We used to get on planes, and they'd ask who we were, and we'd say, 'The Dave Brubeck Quartet', and they'd say, 'Who?' In later years they'd say, 'Oh', which amounts to the same thing.

We're working as if it were going out of style-which of course it is.

I tried practicing for a few weeks and ended up playing too fast.

I was unfashionable before anyone knew who I was.

Writing is like jazz. It can be learned, but it can't be taught.

It was never supposed to be a hit. It was supposed to be a Joe Morello drum solo.

I'm glad [Ornette Coleman] is such an individualist. I like the firmness of thought and purpose that goes into what he's doing, even though I don't always like to listen to it. It's like living in a house where everything's painted red.