Miles Davis

It’s not the notes you play, it’s the notes you don’t play.

I can tell whether a person can play just by the way he stands.

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

Nothing is out of the question for me. I’m always thinking about creating. My future starts when I wake up in the morning and see the light…Then I’m grateful.

I don’t care if a dude is purple with green breath as long as he can swing.

I’ll play it first and tell you what it is later.

Music is a reservoir… of sounds.

Jazz will only go where we the composers and musicians take it. It is up to us.

I really feel like I made it a great record. I really feel good about it. In this day and age to make a record that you say, ‘This is different,’ that’s a tough nut. I did it by accident but it got done. I don’t know what I’m doing, but I know how to do it.

Creativity shouldn’t be following radio; it should be the other way around.

It’s easy to play any musical instrument, just touch the right key at the right time and the instrument will play itself.

The more real you get, the more unreal everything else is.

In order to complete your cycle, a musician needs to write; document what is going through your mind and where you are harmonically, theoretically, historically.

I’ve sung a lot of emotional songs, but when you’re writing it’s very difficult to decide what to reveal.

Man, as long as people want to hear Jazz, I’ll give it to them.

Any particular style of playing which represents an authentic way of musical feeling is genuine expression.

Jazz music is our original American culture.

The more you play, the more you hear and the more you hear, the more you want to play.

I don’t worry too much about the fundamentalist principles that are in almost any discussion about Jazz.

If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it ‘Chuck Berry’.

Creativity and artistic endeavors have a mission that goes far beyond just making music for the sake of music.