Dexter Gordon

If I were to call it black music, that would be untrue. I don’t know what that is, unless it would be some African drums or something.

If you can’t play the Blues you might as well hang it up.

Darlin… be-bop is the music of the future.

If you can’t play the blues, you might as well hang it up.

When you know the lyrics to a tune, you have some kind of insight as to it’s composition.

When you know the lyrics to a tune, you have some kind of insight as to it’s composition. If you don’t understand what it’s about, you’re depriving yourself of being really able to communicate this poem.

I think you have to leave a lot to the imagination!

I want a kick to my band, but I don’t want the rhythm to hog the spotlight.

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

Sound is the first thing that we tune into.

A musician’s responsibility is to get as much of his art across to the public as possible.

There’s two things you can’t live without. Water and music.

Don’t say Aretha is making a comeback, because I’ve never been away!

Jazz is rhythm and meaning.

Just to keep it interesting I’ll tune the guitar randomly, so I don’t know what’s going to come out.

I gave it my absolute everything I had in that howl at the start of the song. And then B. B. King opened up his mouth and I felt like a girl. We had learned and absorbed, but the more we tried to be like B.B., the less convincing we were.

Typically I go in the studio and whatever I’m contemplating that day will wind up being a song. I don’t come in with lyrics… I just go in and let it happen.

I thought Eric Clapton was good. He still is. Not only is he good – he’s rock’s #1 guitarist, and he plays blues better than most of us.

Jazz is not a what, it is a how.

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.

The music field was the first to break down racial barriers, because in order to play together, you have to love the people you are playing with, and if you have any racial inhibitions, you wouldn’t be able to do that.