I learned jazz; that comes from blues. I learned rock; that comes from blues. I learned pop; that comes from blues. Even dance, that comes from blues, with the answer-and-response.
Improvisation is the ability to create something very spiritual, something of one's own.
There is a modern take on certain things you can do that, to me, is still jazz.
Being grown up is boring. Besides, I don't get jazz.
Jazz is not gonna be a dinosaur and stay around in one form.
One thing about playing the real jazz is that you can't count it.
I think everybody has to kind of decide what the word 'jazz' means to them, and that's fine.
Jazz is like a telescope, and a lot of other music is like a microscope.
One thing I like about jazz is that it emphasized doing things differently from what other people were doing.
It's not exclusive, but inclusive, which is the whole spirit of jazz.
Since about 1980 Kenny Werner has been one of jazz’s unsung heroes
Everything I do is Mingus.
When Lester plays, he almost seems to be singing; one can almost hear the words.
The strange thing about Africa is how past, present and future come together in a kind of rough jazz, if you like.
Jazz can be a blank canvas full of possibilities.
I like the music. I love it & live it in fact. But for me the business part of music just plain stinks.
They say that Jazz is back, and I don't think it's gone anywhere. But they say it's back.
I think my knowledge of music theory is rooted in jazz theory, and a lot of the writers of standards - Rodgers and Hart, and Gershwin.
Whoever invented smooth jazz, man, I wanna kill 'em: You're turning an art form into a hooker.
I wasn't very aware of pop music because I attended an arts school. For me, it was all about jazz.
I was introduced to jazz, and that's become a basic concern and passion of mine ever since.
If it has more than three chords, it's jazz.
Jazz is one of the least learnable art forms.
It is jazz music that called me to be a musician and I have always sang the songs that moved me the most.
Jazz isn't what you do; it's how you do it.
