Quote collection
175 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
"I used to enjoy all the white bands when I was a kid listening to the radio. But the record companies, they take music and label it - like, they say "rock". Because the white singers can't sound like James Brown, they call him "soul". They've been doing that for years. That's the prejudice crap."
"If you love them in the morning with their eyes full of crust; if you love them at night with their hair full of rollers, chances are, you're in love."
"I mean, it makes me sick when I see a white man sitting there smiling at me being entertaining, man. When I know what he's gonna do after he gets through. You know, when you see that thing on their face - like: "Entertain me." You know what I mean? Even the black guy that's trying to be white - even he can have that crap on his face."
"If you hit a wrong note, it's the next note that you play that determines if it's good or bad."
"It's like, how did Columbus discover America when the Indians were already here? What kind of s-- is that, but white people's s--?"
"I've always told the musicians in my band to play what they know and then play above that. Because then anything can happen, and that's where great art and music happens."
"Audiences - they like colour, you know. I can go out there wearing a red suit, man, and they'll say I'm out of sight ... I think they should be educated; you should always drop something on an audience ... When you get in front of an audience, you should try to give 'em something. After all, they're there looking at you like this. You can't go out and give 'em nothing."
"Don't be afraid of mistakes - There are none."
"I ain't no entertainer, and ain't trying to be one. I am one thing, a musician."
"In high school I was best in music class on the trumpet, but the prizes went to the boys with blue eyes. I made up my mind to outdo anybody white on my horn."
"In improvisation, there are no mistakes."
"If you don't know what to play, play nothing."
"Look, man, all I am is a trumpet player."
"The only reason to write a new song is because you're tired of the old ones."
"I've come close to matching the feeling of that night in 1944 in music, when I first heard Diz and Bird, but I've never got there. . . . I'm always looking for it, listening and feeling for it, though, trying to always feel it in and through the music I play everyday."
"I don't care if a dude is purple with green breath as long as he can swing."
"You can tell whether a person plays well or not by the way he carries the instrument, whether it means something to him or not."
"When the band plays fast, you play slow; when the band plays slow, you play fast."
"If you understood everything I say, you'd be me!"
"I always listen to what I can leave out."