Brian McKnight

I’m not sure if Donald Trump is the answer, but I do think that the departure from traditional politicians may be the answer. I’m not sure if he is, but I like the idea of getting away from career politicians.

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 lot of musicians put diamonds on things to show they had money. I on the other had felt that a Rolex Daytona showed I had style and I didn’t need to be flashy.

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

Music used to be essential and meaningful, but now it’s disposable.

I was probably six years old when I first sang before an audience.

We in the Western world suffer from too many categories and classes; we’ve forgotten that we all still have diapers on. We’ve separated music from life.

Jazz means many things to many people, but it’s all about choices.

I’m not much on gimmicks. I never have been because they don’t last.

To this day, no one has come up with a set of rules for originality. There aren’t any.

Jazz is played from the heart. You can even live by it. Always love it.

In order to be honest with myself, I have to reveal more of who I am. This is a part of the improv process.

I always had a deep feeling to be one with the very minute I’m in.

So What or Kind of Blue were done in that era, the right hour, the right day. It’s over; it’s on the record.

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

Players are coming from other backgrounds: rock, folk, ethnic music. It’s changing Jazz for the better.

The wonderful thing about Jazz is its willingness to take chances.

I had a really good time in New Orleans, although I had some very tragic times in Baton Rouge. Some guys beat me up and threw my horn away. ‘Cause I had a beard, then, and long hair like the Beatles.

I think I love it more as I get older because I keep getting better on drums, vibes and piano.

I’m on some singer’s record date for a demo and I get a note to call Miles Davis. Of course, I didn’t believe it, but I wasn’t going to take a chance by not calling, and it was Miles. He said, ‘I’ve got a session in an hour over at Columbia, can you make it’

Even when you write it, someone’s got to play it. So if you can play it and bypass all the rest of the things, you’re still doing as great as someone that has spent forty years trying to find out how to do that. I’m really pro-human beings, pro-expression of everything.