Miles Davis

I really liked Wynton when I first met him. He’s still a nice young man, only confused.

I’m always thinking about creating. My future starts when I wake up in the morning and see the light. Then I’m grateful.

It’s always been a gift with me, hearing music the way I do. I don’t know where it comes from, it’s just there and I don’t question it.

Do not fear mistakes, there are none.

You should never be comfortable, man. Being comfortable fouled up a lot of musicians.

So What or Kind of Blue were done in that era, the right hour, the right day. It’s over; it’s on the record.

Jazz is a beautiful word. I love it.

Jazz music has always been a place where anything is possible.

I feel that Jazz improvisation is the ultimate. You have to create on the spot, the essence of this music.

There’s always this sound out there that’s just a little beyond my reach and that just sort of keeps me going.

Play the way you’d like to be and soon you’ll be the way you play.

You get that right tickin’ rhythm, man and its ON!

I wanted to do the music, but not at the expense of being happy.

I never had much interest in the piano until I realized that every time I played, a girl would appear on the piano bench to my left and another to my right.

As far as playing jazz, no other art form, other than conversation, can give the satisfaction of spontaneous interaction.

There is a time where you’re beyond yourself, better than your technique, better than your usual ideas.

It is people’s hearts that move the age.

It was a great thrill to listen every night and hear him on NBC radio. Les played just as great then. And then later on, in the 1950s, Les Paul turned the whole world on to guitar. He’s just a terrific, flashy, tasty guitarist.

The wise musicians are those who play what they can master.

Talking about music is like dancing about architecture.

Our music is generally the music I would play way back when I was in the record business. So I’ll play World Waiting For The Sunrise and How High The Moon, maybe Over The Rainbow, some standards. But it depends upon the artist that comes up – if people like a certain kind of music, I will focus the show that way. Whoever walks up on to the stage is the star – he is the picture, we are the frame. The frame is there to make the star look better – let’s make this fellow the best he’s ever going to be.