Quotes About Improvisation

Music comes from the musician, not the instrument.

Blues is to jazz what yeast is to bread--without it, it's flat.

I never taught people where to step on '2', because when I learned how to dance there was no '2'. We just danced to the music.

I am an improviser, ... I improvise music. Whatever you want to call it all, it is all improvised music. I may capture it and go back and write it down for others, but it was originally improvised.

One of my biggest thrills for me still is sitting down with a guitar or a piano and just out of nowhere trying to make a song happen.

There is no such thing as a wrong note.

What I came back to is that jazz is a music to be played and not to be intellectualized on.

'Swing' is an adjective or a verb, not a noun. All jazz musicians should swing. There is no such thing as a 'swing band' in music.

The genius of our country is improvisation, and jazz reflects that. It's our great contribution to the arts.

Jazz is neither specific repertoire, nor academic exercise... but a way of life.

They flat their fifths, we drink ours.

A Jazz man should be saying what he feels: humor, sadness, joy... all the things that humans have.

Jazz is the only music in which the same note can be played night after night but differently each time.

As long as there are musicians who have a passion for spontaneity, for creating something thats never been before, the art form of jazz will flourish.

Jazz is one of the best things that you can find in your life, it can always be your friend.

Jazz is letting everybody do his or her thing with the music.

The thing to judge in any jazz artist is, does the man project and does he have ideas.

Jazz is a democratic musical form. We take our respective instruments & collectively create a thing of beauty.

After two takes you're imitating yourself.

Jazz music is a style, not compositions; any kind of music may be played in Jazz if one has the knowledge.

They're not particular whether you're playing a flat 5th or a ruptured 129th as long as they can dance.

Don't be afraid, just play the music.

It's the group sound that's important, even when you're playing a solo. You not only have to know your own instrument, you must know the others and how to back them up at all times. That's jazz.

One thing I like about jazz, kid, is that I don't know what's going to happen next. Do you?