If the average jazz artist uses his head and at the outset of his career realizes he won't play as well at fifty as he does at twenty-five, he won't be in a line-up outside the Salvation Army when he's fifty.
Oscar PetersonMontreal was a very active jazz center until club owners started putting in strippers instead of music. Before long, there was nothing to hear.
Oscar PetersonIt's the group sound that's important, even when you're playing a solo. You not only have to know your own instrument, you must know the others and how to back them up at all times. That's jazz.
Oscar Peterson