John Coltrane

The emotional reaction is all that matters.

My music is the spiritual expression of what I am: my faith, my knowledge, my being.

Sometimes I wish I could walk up to my music for the first time, as if I had never heard it before.

You can play a shoestring if you’re sincere.

When you begin to see the possibilities of music, you desire to do something really good for people.

All a musician can do is to get closer to the source.

Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of someone else.

I’ve been married twice. Most women would rather not be married to a traveling blues singer.

Jazz music just resonates with the frequency of me.

People always ask, “Why jazz?” and I’m like “Why not?” It’s kind of like asking Seurat, “Why so many dots?” I imagine if you asked Bjork, “Why the Tibetan bells?” She’d probably be like “That’s just what I heard.” It’s the same thing. This is just the way I see music.

How can I turn emotion into knowledge? That’s what I try to do with my horn.

The trio is the biggest sound you can have with the smallest unit.

People complain about the music industry, but this is a great time to be a musician.

Music is to the soul what water is to the body.

There’s only two types of music. The stuff you can write down and the stuff you can’t. The stuff that you can’t write down is Jazz. Everything else is Polka.

I don’t have a definition of Jazz. You’re just supposed to know it when you hear it.

Love is sweeping the country.

Music is a calling that you must bring your best to, whether listening, practicing or performing.

If a guy is gonna to play good bop, he has to have a sort of a bop soul.

A great thing about being a musician is you don’t stop until the day you die.

You have a mentor or teacher and you learn all he can show you.