Oscar Peterson

If you have something to say of any worth then people will listen to you.

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.

I don’t do something because I think it’ll sell 30 million albums. I couldn’t care less if it sells just one.

I don’t believe that a lot of the things I hear on the air today are going to be played for as long a time as Coleman Hawkins records or Brahms concertos.

He’s not a performer, he’s not a composer, he’s not even a musician, but Norman Granz is Mr. Jazz.

It’s the group sound that’s important, even when you’re playing a solo. You not only have to know your own instrument, you must know the others and how to back them up at all times. That’s jazz.

Jazz is an art that makes a person completely naked.

It’s easy in music to tell what’s good. It’s hard to tell what’s bad.

I guess you can look at me, and tell I’m the old man. My name is BB King.

Forget about upholding the tradition and just play who you really are.

The melody is generally what the piece is all about.

I can’t listen to music too often. It affects your nerves, makes you want to say stupid nice things and stroke the heads of people who could create such beauty while living in this vile hell.

If you don’t know what it is, don’t mess with it.

Music should strike fire from the heart of man and bring tears to the eyes of woman.

A melody is not merely something you can hum.

I remember going to sleep many nights with a Gibson catalog, dreaming about getting a Les Paul. I finally did, with a loan from my Dad. It’s a really heavy instrument. But it plays like butter. I met Les backstage at a show once. Jeff Beck made me play ‘Flight of the Bumblebee’ for Les, which was a little embarrassing. He changed history, big-time.

Playing ‘bop’ is like playing Scrabble with all the vowels missing.

I used to play – when I first started trying to be professional, I disk jockey from 1949 to 1955 in Memphis, Tennessee, and I was quite popular there as a disk jockey.

I see my body as an instrument, rather than an ornament.

That’s a great thing about jazz. We leave it a little space so that we have the opportunity to go where the moment takes us

They’re singing your praises while stealing your phrases.