Thelonious Monk

If jazz has to be termed as a wave, then music is a sea, but if the reflectors in the water is the chord.

Sometimes it’s to your advantage for people to think you’re crazy.

I find my inspiration in myself.

I compose my pieces with a formula that I created myself.

All musicians stimulate each other. The vibrations get scattered around.

I don’t have a definition of Jazz. You’re just supposed to know it when you hear it.

When you begin to teach jazz, the most dangerous thing is that you tend to teach style…I had eleven piano students, and I would say eight of them didn’t even want to know about chords or anything – they didn’t even want to do anything that anybody had ever done, because they didn’t want to be imitators. Well, of course, this is pretty naive…but nevertheless it does bring to light the fact that if you’re going to try to teach jazz…you must abstract the principles of music which have nothing to do with style, and this is exceedingly difficult. So there, the teaching of jazz is a very touchy point. It ends up where the jazz player, ultimately, if he’s going to be a serious jazz player, teaches himself.

I’ve studied all my musical life, but learning is only good if you do something constructive with it.

This be an empty world without the blues.

Eliminating the piano means that I’ve always worked closer with the bass than most players.

Music is your own experience, your thoughts, your wisdom. If you don’t live it, it won’t come out of your horn. They teach you there’s a boundary line to music. But, man, there’s no boundary line to art.

Jazz music is our original American culture.

I’m a fan first. I believed Duke Ellington when he said there’s no bad music, just some of it is presented badly. As a kid, hanging around Church Street, the presentation of music was so powerful, I couldn’t help but jump for joy. I had discovered art, or truth, or whatever you want to call it; I had seen a light I’d follow forever.

Good music is good music and everything else can go to hell.

During these years I began to feel an increasing dissatisfaction with the relations of the music-loving public and the living composer. It seemed to me that we composers were in danger of working in a vacuum.

Notes are expensive… spend them wisely!

I don’t have a favorite song that I’ve written. But I do have a favorite song: ‘Always on My Mind,’ the Willie Nelson version. If I could sing it like he do, I would sing it every night. I like the story it tells.

You explore beautiful songs and create your own interpretation of them.

If you’re making money people don’t think you’re playing Jazz. When you’re not making money they think you’re a great Jazz musician.

If you can’t get your songs to people one way, you have to find another.

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