Bill Evans

To the person who uses music as a medium for the expression of ideas, feelings, images, or what have you; anything which facilitates this expression is properly his instrument.

You give up your own personality when you imitate somebody.

Music comes from the moment, it is spontaneous, it exists at the time it is created.

I went through a lot of mental pains and anguish about choosing between jazz and classical. I realized that where I functioned was where I should be, and where I functioned was in jazz, so that was it.

Jazz isn’t a what, it’s a how.

To imitate someone is to insult them.

It’s all music.

Three months. I was playing the organ for three months. It was a challenge for me in the beginning.

If a Jazz musician plays someone else’s song, he has a responsibility to make a distinct and original statement.

Jazz is the false liquidation of art, instead of utopia becoming reality it disappears from the picture.

I started to like blues, I guess, when I was about 6 or 7 years old. There was something about it, because nobody else played that kind of music.

It’s important to reflect on what made Jazz so special.

Mary Lou Williams used to tell me: If you’re not feeling right, play a minor tune and it falls into place.

Jazz is not dead, it just smells funny.

Jazz is a beautiful woman whose older brother is a policeman.

A Jazz musician is a juggler who uses harmonies instead of oranges.

I’ll always write music. Whether I release a record, whether I let the public hear it or not, I’m always writing music.

The secret is keeping busy, and loving what you do.

I never really thought about becoming a professional musician.

Will the people in the cheaper seats clap your hands? All the rest of you, if you

Jazz is a very accurate, curiously accurate accompaniment to 20th century America.