Jazz Legends:
In Their Words

"When I was still in my teens, I met a woman who became my idol. She was my idol then and continued to be my idol...that's Billy Holiday."

Carmen McRae, Jazz Vocalist

"I go to the gym to keep my body in shape so I can hold notes longer, so my stomach will be flat and I'll look handsome."

Miles Davis, Trumpet

"Bebop is the name of a song written by Dizzy Gillespie. As far as I can remember critics called the music be-bop....The music was so unique, and unusual, so fresh and original. At that particular time I remember we were playing a song called 'Be-Bop,' and they (critics) just called all the music be-bop."

Max Roach, Drums

"'Circa 45,' and it means 1945, that's when I was born. I wish I had been born earlier because of that whole period with Bud (Powell) and Bird (Charlie Parker). I'm really sorry I missed that. That's holds a special place in my heart, really. That's what I think about Charlie Parker.

Tony Williams, Drums

"Max Roach defined the word technically. Jazz is not just music, it's a way of life, it's a way of being, a way of thinking." Nina Simone, Jazz Vocalist

"I only knew blues in B-flat. I was a B-flat man. When they talked about a tune like 'How High The Moon,' and bridges, I thought, what is this jive?...they wouldn't let me on the bandstand, and I felt hurt. I said oh, Lord one thing I have to do is get these cats to accept me. I have got to be initiated into this cult."

Ornette Coleman, Saxophone

"He (Bird) called a tune I had never heard before called 'Painting The Town Red.' He played for about half an hour, and each chorus was more fantastic than the one that had preceded it....everything was flawless, it was perfect. Bird really painted Milwaukee red that night."

Kenny Dorham, Trumpet

"Bird said, 'Hear with your eyes and see with your ears.' I never forgot that. The knowledge Bird had about other things in the world beside music! He was a brilliant man."

Art Blakey, Drums

"Of course my main way of earning a living is pleasing my audience, so I can pay the cats and get paid, too, so I can go home happy. Actually it's a combination of pleasing everybody."

Carmen McRae, Jazz Vocalist

"It was an unprecedented opportunity to do something I really wanted to do. To me it was the best of all possible worlds. Not only did I admire Coltrane as a person, but as a musician there was no one for whom I had a more profound respect. To share musical experiences night after night with this man and in this group was, like I said, the best of all possible worlds. It was a great experience which taught me a great deal."

Elvin Jones, Drums

"When you're scatting, you can almost see the notes. You can see your half-tones and know how they're supposed to sound because you see the keyboard in your head."

Betty Carter, Jazz Vocalist

"Historically, especially in Africa, musicians have been the messengers, the storytellers, the people who influenced their society."

Randy Weston, Piano

"The freedom musicians have a large following....In some cases people like Pharaoh Sanders and Sun Ra give them (their fans) the whole constellation. Yeah they're playing that sort of music correctly.

Philly Joe Jones, Drums

"Bud (Powell) is my baby, my child....He and I were very close. Musically he was unique....He used to like me to play classics for him....He would say, 'Hazel play me some Bach.' There was a certain kind of unworldly quality about him that nobody else had....I love his music. I love everything he did."

Hazel Scott, Piano

"There can be so many different qualities in our music; it can be intellectual music, it can be spiritual music, or music just for joy, or celestial music. John Coltrane was one person who attained this celestial quality. When he came on the scene, he realized that he had to carry the message, and he carried it well. His thinking was spiritual, but instead of speaking it, he would play and you could feel it. You could also feel it in the way he lived and carried himself as a human being."

Don Cherry, Trumpet

Notes And Tones, ©Arthur Taylor