“I wish we could just stay on the bandstand, it's so peaceful up here.” WishPeaceful Author:Rahsaan Roland Kirk
“Playboys' was an authentic junkie record. Art Pepper was just out of jail, Chet was arrested a week after the session, and piano player Carl Perkins would die two years later. When the record was recorded I was behind bars myself. In 1955 I was caught with narcotics and had to serve almost five years. Luckily, I was allowed to keep my saxophone in the cell, and I composed a lot during the time. They had to come fetch the music for Playboys from jail.” YearsArtTwoDiesBehindsRecordsFivePlayerWeekCaughtBarsCellsPianoFive YearsTwo YearsJailSessionArrestedJunkiePlayboyPeppersSaxophoneNarcoticsFetch Author:Jimmy Heath
“The first time I walked on a stage I knew that was what I was created to do. I knew that there was a calling and a sense of purpose in my life that gave me fulfillment and a sense of destiny.” FirstsPurposeDestinyStageCallingFirst TimeFulfillment Author:T. D. Jakes
“[Sweets Edison] was one of the greatest stylists in Jazz of all time. And on top of that, when you listen to him, you say 'yes, that's Sweets' and you automatically smile. This is really unique. He changed the way how to play this instrument.” WayPlayChangedSweetUniqueInstrumentsJazzAll TimeStylist Author:Clark Terry
“We were all influenced by Lester [Young]. Listen to the records that he made with [Count] Basie. Nobody's got what he's got. He's still the daddy.” MadeStillsYoungRecordsDaddyLester Young Author:Zoot Sims
“I just take a tune and play it the only way I can. That's it. I don't really dwell on it very much. Some people probably do. I can only say I play it the way I feel it.” PeopleWayFeelsI CanPlayTunes Author:Zoot Sims
“At a time when individualism is becoming an endangered species, jazz represents a celebration of the individual.” IndividualBecomingJazzSpeciesIndividualityCelebrationIndividualismEndangered Species Author:Ellis Marsalis, Jr.
“[Wynton] Marsalis does not aspire to be an innovator, no one else is allowed to have new ideas either.” DoeIdeasNew IdeasAspireInnovators Author:Randy Sandke