I’ll play it first and figure out what it’s called later.
If you’re not nervous then you’re not paying attention.
Jazz is the big brother of Revolution. Revolution follows it around.
White folks always think that you have to have a label on everything – you know what I mean?
Good music is good no matter what kind of music it is.
My future starts when I wake up every morning.
If you hit a wrong note, it’s the next note that you play that determines if it’s good or bad.
People will go for anything they don’t understand if it’s got enough hype...
It took me twenty years study and practice to work up to what I wanted to play in this performance. How can she expect to listen five minutes and understand it?
What’s swinging in words? If a guy makes you pat your foot and if you feel it down your back, you don’t have to ask anybody if that’s good music or not. You can always feel it.
For me, music and life are all about style.
My father’s rich, my momma’s good looking. Right? And I can play the Blues. I’ve never suffered and don’t intend to suffer.
Some day I’m gonna call me up on the phone, so when I answer, I can tell myself to shut up.
My ego only needs a good rhythm section.
I can tell whether a person can play just by the way he stands.
First you imitate, then you innovate.
I ain’t no entertainer, and ain’t trying to be one. I am one thing, a musician.
If you have to ask, you’ll never know.
A legend is an old man with a cane known for what he used to do. I’m still doing it.
You know why I quit playing ballads? Cause I love playing ballads.