Shirley Horn

You know at an early age if you have a talent for music.

Those who were seen dancing were thought insane by those who could not hear the music.

Talent is only the starting point.

If you have to ask what jazz is, you’ll never know.

Three months. I was playing the organ for three months. It was a challenge for me in the beginning.

Improvisation is the most widespread of all musical activities. Why did so many people spend so long pretending it never happened?

The first time I heard Bird play, it hit me right between the eyes.

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

First of all, I never strive for identity. That’s something that just has happened automatically as a result, I think, of just putting things together, tearing things apart and putting it together my own way, and somehow I guess the individual comes through eventually.

I was born with music inside me. Music was one of my parts. Like my ribs, my kidneys, my liver, my heart. Like my blood. It was a force already within me when I arrived on the scene. It was a necessity for me-like food or water.

The beauty of Jazz is that it’s malleable. People address it to suit their own personalities.

I like what I hear other guys doing, but the thing that really attracts me is melodic playing.

I just wonder where I was when the talent was being given out, like George Benson, Kenny Burrell, Eric Clapton… oh, there’s many more! I wouldn’t want to be like them, you understand, but I’d like to be equal, if you will.

Regardless of what you play, the biggest thing is keeping the feel going.

Practicing is like getting your vocabulary together to use on the gig.