Thelonious Monk

The piano ain’t got no wrong notes.

I don’t know where Jazz is going. Maybe it’s going to hell. You can’t make anything go anywhere. It just happens.

Talking about music is like dancing about architecture.

If you really understand the meaning of be-bop, you understand the meaning of freedom.

I find my inspiration in myself.

I don’t consider myself a musician who has achieved perfection and can’t develop any further.

Lionel Richie told me forget about the critics. But if you come back with hit after hit, you don’t have to worry about anything.

Anybody can write music of a sort. But touching the public heart is quite another thing.

I’m not much on gimmicks. I never have been because they don’t last.

My creed for art in general is that it should enrich the soul; it should teach spirituality by showing a person a portion of himself that he would not discover otherwise . . . a part of yourself you never knew existed.

One of the things I like about Jazz, kid, is I don’t know what’s going to happen next. Do you?

Talent is cheap, and many talents treat themselves cheaply.

Women have not been socialized to play drums. It’s not natural for us to hit thing.

The drummer; he inspired me to play like no one else I have ever met.

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

I look for a deep, gutty feelin’ in a guitar tone. I don’t use picks. People ask, “How you get that?” It’s just there. There’s a lot of people try to play real fast chords-da da da da da-that ain’t the hard, solid blues. It’s synthetic. It has not feeling to it. You sit down and play some funky, funky guitar. Take your time! Don’t rush it. Just let it come flowing through you. I can play guitar so funky, it’ll bring teardrops to your eyes.

In order to be honest with myself, I have to reveal more of who I am. This is a part of the improv process.

Trios offer simple instrumentation, but the orchestral possibilities are so profound.

It’s true I’ve always been attracted to the jazz band in an orchestral way, rather than a band way.

Music gave me the energy to revise, revive myself; renew, rebirth myself. It was a palliative, a relief.

When we were at the Apollo, Holiday was a block away. I asked her for her autograph.