Buddy Rich

You only get better by playing.

A musician starting out today should get a great teacher and learn all there is to know about the instrument.

As far as music school goes, I walked through Berkelee one time.

As soon as it was understood that we could handle things in our own way, it was the thrill of my life to walk out on that stage with people just hemming the band in.

If you’re gonna sing meaningful songs, you have to be committed to living a life that backs that up.

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

People involve themselves with the superficiality of Jazz without digging for its soul.

I was really running a music school back then, because my band wasn’t making any money. I keep talking about money, because most people don’t understand the part of money in running a band.

I try to teach by example and not force ideas on a young musician. We’re here to be part of a process of exchange.

The way a band works is a metaphor for all sorts of collaborative and larger enterprises that people do.

I try stuff. I synthesize what’s of value with some of the other things I have at my disposal.

Your sound is you and what you really feel inside.

There’s a category for me. I like to be referred to as a good singer of good songs in good taste.

I am a devout musician.

When I got pretty good I went on the road with a group. We starved.

I believe in using the entire piano as a single instrument capable of expressing every possible musical idea.

I listen to all kinds of songs. There’s something to be learned from every type of music and from the one making it, whether it’s pop or jazz or hip-hop.

Inspiration grows into full-scale creation through persistence and imagination.