Chuck Berghofer

The first time I heard Bird play, it hit me right between the eyes.

As far back as I can remember, singing was in my blood. My parents loved music, and I loved to sing. I was scatting at an early age.

10% of musicians make 90% of the money, while the remaining 90% of musicians make the 10% that’s left.

He almost adds a Chet-like sound to it.

There’s millions and millions of people who think Les Paul is a guitar!

The whole thing of being in music is not to control it but to be swept away by it.

I’m very shy, and I shy away from people. But the moment I hit the stage, it’s a different feeling I get nerve from somewhere; maybe it’s because it’s something I love to do.

Never play anything the same way twice.

I play as I feel.

Music activates the brain at a high level.

You gotta mean it and you gotta treat it gentle.

Music is everybody’s possession. It’s only publishers who think that people own it.

The way I feel today, as long as my health is good and I can handle myself well and people still come to my concerts, still buy my CDs, I’ll keep playing until I feel like I can’t.

Every symphony, for example, is a sonata for orchestra; every string quartet is a sonata for four strings; every concerto a sonata for a solo instrument and orchestra.

When I speak of the gifted listener, I am thinking of the nonmusician primarily, of the listener who intends to retain his amateur status. It is the thought of just such a listener that excites the composer in me.