In The Words Of Famous Jazz Cats ...

[Ron Thorne]

"Put it this way: Jazz is a good barometer of freedom… In its beginnings, the United States of America spawned certain ideals of freedom and independence through which, eventually, jazz was evolved, and the music is so free that many people say it is the only unhampered, unhindered expression of complete freedom yet produced in this country." - Duke Ellington

"By and large, jazz has always been like the kind of a man you wouldn’t want your daughter to associate with. " - Duke Ellington

"I never heard of a Jazz musician who retired. You love what you do, so what are you going to do... play for the walls?" - Nat Adderley

"Once you become predictable, no one's interested anymore." - Chet Atkins

"The essentials of Jazz are: melodic improvisation, melodic invention, swing & instrumental personality." - Mose Allison

"Keeping your artistic self as creative as possible is a balancing act." - Karrin Allyson

[Ron Thorne]

"A jazz musician is not a jazz musician when he or she is eating dinner or when he or she is with his parents or spouse or neighbors. He’s above all a human being . . . the true artform is being a human being." - Herbie Hancock

"A great teacher is one who realizes that he himself is also a student and whose goal is not dictate the answers, but to stimulate his students creativity enough so that they go out and find the answers themselves." - Herbie Hancock

"In fifteen seconds the difference between composition and improvisation is that in composition you have all the time you want to decide what to say in fifteen seconds, while in improvisation you have fifteen seconds." - Steve Lacy

"A jazz musician is a combination orator, dialectician, mathematician, athlete, entertainer, poet, singer, dancer, diplomat, educator, student, comedian, artist, seducer, public masturbator, and general all-round good fellow." - Steve Lacy

[bluenoter]

"Jazz music is exactly made of the present tense. I want to go there — I go there. I want to improvise and play a chord which is a strange chord — I play the strange chord. I want to sing a song — I sing a song. I want to play a popular song from the '20s — I do it. I want to play some Brazilian music even if I'm not Brazilian — yes. You know, just live your own music." — Stefano Bollani

.(from the transcript of an All Things Considered segment about him, here)

[Ron Thorne]

"If a jazz player is really playing, the classical player will have to respect him." - Wes Montgomery

"Playing octaves was just a coincidence. And it’s still such a challenge, like chord versions, block chords like cats play on piano. There are a lot of things that can be done with it, but each is a field of its own. I used to have headaches every time I played octaves, because it was extra strain, but the minute I’d quit I’d be all right. But now I don’t have headaches when I play octaves." - Wes Montgomery

[Ron Thorne]

"I stole everything that I heard, but mostly I stole from the horns." - Ella Fitzgerald

"When Lester plays, he almost seems to be singing; one can almost hear the words." Billie Holiday

"My life is music, and in some vague, mysterious and subconscious way, I have always been driven by a taut inner spring which has propelled me to almost compulsively reach for perfection in music, often-in fact, mostly-at the expense of everything else in my life." - Stan Getz

"There are four qualities essential to a great jazzman. They are taste, courage, individuality, and irreverence. These are the qualities I want to retain in my music." - Stan Getz

[Ron Thorne]

"Only play what you hear. If you don't hear anything, don't play anything." - Chick Corea

"After two takes you're imitating yourself." - Thelonious Monk

[Ron Thorne]

"You've got to realize. In the western world, regardless of what color you are, what title the music is, it's all played by the same notes." - Ornette Coleman

"I never practice my guitar... from time to time I just open the case and throw in a piece of raw meat." - Wes Montgomery

"It's better to finish at the peak or soon after it, than to wait until the audience notices a decline." - Eberhard Weber

"A chimpanzee could learn to do what I do physically. But it goes way beyond that. When you play, you play life." - Jaco Pastorius

[bluenoter]

"As long as there are musicians who have a passion for spontaneity, for creating something that's never been before, the art form of jazz will flourish." — Charlie Haden

"We're here to bring beauty to the world and make a difference in this planet. That's what art forms are about." — Charlie Haden

"I just see myself as a human being that's concerned about life." — Charlie Haden

[Gentle Giant]

Just found this great quote on Facebook (so it must be true ):

"I don't know anybody who's perfect. You go out there and do your best. And if you don't nail it, then you go out the next day and you try to get it right. That's really all you can do." Steve Gadd

[uli]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srweoZIlao0

[Ron Thorne]

"I am from the planet of elegance." - Ron Carter

"There is no roles. No one is keeping any roles. The drummer is also answering everybody and everything. So it is a constant conversation and communication between musicians on an extremely high level with extremely valuable material, motifs, and melodies." - Miroslav Vitous

"I enjoy playing the band as the band. I 'be' the whole band and I'm playing the drums, I'm playing the guitar, I'm playing the saxophone. To me, the most wonderful thing about playing music is that." - Chick Corea

"The people who know nothing about music are the ones always talking about it." - Nat King Cole

"So much of what we do as artists is a combination of personal experience and imagination, and how that all creeps into your work is not so linear." - Diana Krall

[Ron Thorne]

"Jazz is rhythm and. meaning". - Henri Matisse

[Ron Thorne]

"The essentials of Jazz are: melodic improvisation, melodic invention, swing & instrumental personality." — Mose Allison

"I never heard of a Jazz musician who retired. You love what you do, so what are you going to do... play for the walls?" — Nat Adderley

“Jazz is not background music. You must concentrate upon it in order to get the most of it. You must absorb most of it. The harmonies within the music can relax, soothe and uplift the mind when you concentrate upon and absorb it. Jazz music stimulates the minds and uplifts the souls of those who play it was well as of those who listen to immerse themselves in it. As the mind is stimulated and the soul uplifted, this is eventually reflected in the body.” — Horace Silver

[Ron Thorne]

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