“Roaming through the jungle of 'oohs' and 'ahs', searching for a more agreeable noise, I live a life of primitivity with the mind of a child and an unquenchable thirst for sharps and flats
”It's like an act of murder; you play with intent to commit something.”
“Music, of course, is what I hear and something that I more or less live by. It's not an occupation or profession, it's a compulsion.”
“My attitude is never to be satisfied, never enough, never.”
“Playing "bop" is like playing Scrabble with all the vowels missing.”
“By and large, jazz has always been like the kind of a man you wouldn't want your daughter to associate with.”
“Fate is being kind to me. Fate doesn't want me to be too famous too young.
It is becoming increasingly difficult to decide where jazz starts or where it stops, where Tin Pan Alley begins and jazz ends, or even where the borderline lies between classical music and jazz. I feel there is no boundary line”
”Critics have their purposes, and they're supposed to do what they do, but sometimes they get a little carried away with what they think someone should have done, rather than concerning themselves with what they did”
Duke Ellington
More quotes from Jazz musicians http://jazzonline.gr/en/jazznews/great-quotes.html