Jimmy Rushing

The blues comes right back to a person’s feelings, to his daily activities in life. But rich people don’t know nothing about the blues, please believe me.

It’s a matter of who would be right for each song. Mickey Hart for ‘All We Need is An Island’ – he’s the only guy I know who has Tahitian drums and every kind of drum on the planet.

Jazz is not a what, it is a how.

I went through a struggle, and I really needed to get myself together and connect with my purpose, which is music.

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.

People may say I can’t sing, but no one can ever say I didn’t sing.

Music that is born complex is not inherently better or worse than music that is born simple.

I’ve seen myself on those lists of the 100 best guitarists, and if they think that I’m that good, thank them. Thank God for them. But I don’t think so.

I’m always interested in looking forward toward the future. Carving out new ways of looking at things.

The human being receives the pleasure from music, not from the argument over what it is.

Many people forget that Jazz, no matter what form it takes, must come from the heart as well as the mind.

Music always turns into music. As soon as I play a key, push a key down, there’s no theory any more. When I go and I hear a sound on the keyboard, all theories go out the window.

Do it again on the next verse and people think you meant it.

A good quartet is like a good conversation among friends interacting to each other’s ideas.

You’re just as beautiful as you feel.

Don’t play the saxophone. Let it play you.