Brian McKnight

I used to play pianos in bars. You know in hotels, you’d see guys playing piano with a snifter? That was me, with a painted-on mustache. I was about 15.

Jazz is about improvisation and the moment in time, doing it this way now and you’ll never do it this way twice.

He knows I rip him off every day. He’s the godfather for me. Nobody can say they aren’t influenced by what Stevie Wonder has done.

Know the business; you need to know the business side of things.

I’m not worried about legacy. I don’t even know what that actually means. I don’t think anyone knows. I hope at some point in my career when my name is mentioned, someone will say “Oh yeah he has a good song!” I’d be happy with that.

A fine timepiece is part of dressing like a gentleman. When I first made a little money, I bought my first watch which was a Rolex Daytona. It was just one of those things that said I was successful.

Even now, at 82 years old, if I don’t learn something every day, you know what I think? It’s a day lost. Now, I don’t practice every day. I just take the guitar, swear at it. But I should be swearing at myself. But I fool with music. I’m doing something musically all the time. And my ears are wide open for anything I can hear.

Breathe…. breathe a lot!

Music is my life, professionally, for nearly 60 years. To be recognized by the academy is still the highest honor.

Jazz is the only music in which the same note can be played night after night, but differently each time.

I may be helping to bring harmony between people through my music.

Audiences are smart. They are not going to come out to see you unless you are honest.

When Hank Jones had his night off, I would get somebody to take my place as intermission pianist and I’d play the show with Ella, so I would get a chance to play with Ray Brown and Charlie Smith as well.

My improvisations are a beguiling mixture of the vertical and the horizontal.

You can’t seperate modern jazz from rock or from rhythm and blues – you can’t seperate it. Because that’s where it all started, and that’s where it all come from – that’s where I learned to keep rhythm – in church.

Find the best teachers, listen to the finest playing and try to emulate that. Be true to the music.

I am a devout musician.

Never lose the groove to find a note.

I learn something new every day.

The true value of this music lies in an artist’s individual creativity and that unique process of expression which is Jazz.

Master your instrument, master the music and then forget all that and just play.