20 Jazz Music Quotes to Get You Inspired

Jazz up your day with these 20 inspiring quotes about jazz music!

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

1. “Jazz is the only music in which the same note can be played night after night but differently each time.”
2. “jazz is not dead, it just smells funny.”
3. “The blues are the roots and the other jazz styles are the fruits.”
4. “Jazz is not dead… it just smells funny.”
5. “There’s no blue without yellow and without orange.”
6. “As long as you’ve got your health, you got everything.”
7. “Jazz is the sound of surprise.”
8. “Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.”
9. “You can’t fake listening. It shows.”
10. “If you have to ask what jazz is, you’ll never know.”
11. “‘Round about midnight, a watershed in every man’s life”
12. “‘When you hit that note, it’s got to be all of you.'”
13. “‘It’s all about rhythm'”
14.’“It’s all about feel; technique is just something that gives you confidence so that you can feel free to concentrate on the feel of it.’” – Wayne Shorter’
15.’“You can play a shoestring if you’re sincere.’” – John Coltrane’
16.’“Nobody notice me until I started playing wrong notes on purpose.’” – Thelonious Monk’
17.'”If I’m going to play like myself, I’m going to have to sound like myself”‘ – Miles Davis’
18.'”It has always been like that with music: First comes feeling.'” – Duke Ellington’
19.'”Jazz washes away the dust of every day life.”” – Art Blakey’

Ornette Coleman

“Jazz is the only music in which the same note can be played night after night but differently each time and sound good.” – Ornette Coleman

“Jazz is the sound of surprise.”

“Jazz is the sound of surprise.” – Duke Ellington

Jazz is one of the most popular genres of music in the world, and has been for many years. It’s a unique genre that combines elements of both traditional and contemporary music, and is loved by people of all ages.

If you’re a fan of jazz, or simply looking for some inspiration, check out these 20 quotes about jazz music.

1. “Jazz is not dead, it just smells funny.” – Frank Zappa
2. “Jazz is a good chicken dinna.” – Dizzy Gillespie
3. “The color of jazz is black.” – Ramsey Lewis
4. “Round about Mississippi, there were always bands playing jazz.” – B.B. King
5. “I’d rather play jazz than eat.” – Louis Armstrong
6. “In New Orleans, everyone wanted to play jazz.” – Benny Goodman
7. “There’s only two types of music: good and bad.” – Duke Ellington
8. “A genius is the one most like himself.” – Thelonious Monk
9. “There are two kinds of music: the blues and zack-a-lee.” – Louis Jordan
10. “My solos were pure gibberish; anybody could have played them better than me.” – Charlie Parker
11. “You can’t copy anybody and end with anything if you don’t start with yourself.” – Billie Holiday
12. “Man, if you gotta ask, you’ll never know.” – Louis Armstrong
13. “Don’t play what’s there, play what’s not there.” – Miles Davis
14 .”Once you learn the basics, you can do whatever you want – it’ll all come out in your own way anyway eventually if you stick with it long enough – just listen to yourself think while playing scales on your horn sometime!” – Sonny Rollins 15 .“It took me years to sound like myself…it takes such concentration that I sometimes ache like a woman in childbirth… But then I hear music and all pain leaves me… immediately! I am reborn!” – Art Tatum 16 .“The beautiful thing about learning is nobody can take it away from you” – B B King 17 .“If I don’t practice for a day, I know it; two days, the critics know it; three days, the public knows it”– Louis Armstrong 18 .”Forget all the rules about music….just feel .”- Jimi Hendrix 19 .”Music washes away from the soul dust of everyday life .”- Unknown 20 .”And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music .”- Nietzsche

Duke Ellington

“Jazz is a music of greatTogetherness and individuality. It brings a togetherness out of the separate parts.” – Duke Ellington

“It’s all music. I could never say I’m playing jazz or pop or anything. It’s all just music to me.” – Duke Ellington

“The big mistake is to think of jazz as a kind of background music that you can tap your foot to.” – Duke Ellington

“First, it has always been my opinion that people are BDSM should be comfortable with their kink even if they don’t like the music.” – Duke Ellington

“Jazz is not dead, it just smells funny.”

1. “Jazz is not dead, it just smells funny.”
-Frank Zappa

2. “You can’t play anything on a horn that hasn’t been played before.”
-Miles Davis

3. “I’m tired of people not understanding the music. I’m tired of them thinking it’s some kind of mathematical equation or something like that.”
-John Coltrane

4. “In jazz, you play the way you feel – but there has to be some basis in technique.”
-Wynton Marsalis

5. “When you’re improvising, you have to be open to anything that happens.”
-Wayne Shorter

6. “A jazz musician is a juggling act – you’ve got to keep a lot of balls in the air at the same time.”
-Herbie Hancock

7. “I think that improvisation is one of the highest forms of creativity.”
– Chick Corea
8. “It has always been my belief that creation comes out of an overflow, so to speak – out of a wellspring within oneself that suddenly bursts into flower and puts forth new creation.”
– Cecil Taylor

Frank Zappa

“Jazz is not dead, it just smells funny.” – Frank Zappa

“Jazz is the teacher of freedom.”

“Jazz is the teacher of freedom.”
-Ornette Coleman

“For me, jazz is about the ability to spontaneously compose music using the skills you have acquired through years of practice and study.”
-Wynton Marsalis

“Jazz is not dead, it just smells funny.”
-Frank Zappa

“Jazz is a music of great achievement, great solos. But unlike other music, it’s not about virtuosity for virtuosity’s sake. It’s about enriching your soul.”
-Herbie Hancock

“Jazz is the only music in which the same note can be played night after night but differently each time.”
-Ornette Coleman

“Jazz has always been like the kind of a man you wouldn’t want your daughter to associate with.”
-Duke Ellington

Ravi Coltrane

“Jazz is about listening. It’s about conversation. It’s about give and take.” – Ravi Coltrane

“In jazz, there are no wrong notes.”

-“In jazz, there are no wrong notes.” – Thelonious Monk

-“Jazz is the music of the spirit. It is the sound of America. It speaks for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” – Albert Ayler

-“Jazz is not dead, it just smells funny.” – Frank Zappa

-“Jazz is the truth and it tells you what to do with that truth. You keep learning as long as you live. It’s never too late to start learning.” – Ray Charles

– “I think jazz went downhill when they started using Electricity… I hate Electricity! I hate Amplifiers! I just want Acoustic Instruments! That’s all good music should be… Organic Music from organic Instruments.” – Miles Davis

-“If you want to play something, play it. If you don’t want to play something, don’t play it. But be willing to take responsibility for what you play.” – Wes Montgomery

-“If you don’t live it, it won’t come out of your horn.” – Charlie Parker

-“It’s always a beautiful time for jazz.” – Charles Mingus

-“Jazz is love.” – Billie Holiday
“Without music, life would be a mistake.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“Music is enough for a lifetime but a lifetime is not enough for music.” – Sergei Rachmaninoff

“Life is one big road with lots of signs so when you’re riding through the ruts don’azines patch ’em all up or obtained down in ’em and swim – Certainly no Thankful Dead”

“There are more love melodies than anything else. If songs could just be made about sex and violence it wouldn’t artists working day and night thinking up ways to tell people how much they love them.” – Sting

“I do believe that if you haven’t learned about sadness, you cannot appreciate happiness oil paint or watercolor on paper suits bestidness rowing upstream against river rapidsloneliness driving cross country at nightan industry kid painting backdrops in an unheated loft [or] playing a gig in a bar where nobody’s listeningloneliness missing someone who isn’t even yours yet [“or”] being gay in Jazz during the 50’sPiano thumping ain’t easy unless that’s what you’re good ath [sic]forklift driving has its momentsDoodling on unwanted checks while waiting for someone important to arrive [“or”] listeneing [sic] tp Pachelbel Canon in D on my headphonesriding an old wooden roller coaster[“or”] searching fr new meaning among ancient ruinsfinding oneself dancing aloneto reggae drummerbeiing breathless atop Pike’s Peakcounting Atlantic waves frm an Adirondack chairstargazing from California mountain desert[“or”]meditating inside Thailand mountaintop templelooking over Niagara Falls frm Canada sideconducting symphony f Godavari river during flood seasonwitnessing Stonehenge align w/ summer solstice sunriseviewing Machu Pichu by sunlighthours spent alone n Godavari river during flood seasonfall asleep narms n legs tangled w/ someone extraordinarly specialto have one loyal fan who believes i’m jst amazingtouchd by creativity intuitionsat open mike poetry readingaining acceptanceof my fellow manbeiing trully blessed by fategratefuwdewdrops ona rose petalfireflies ona summer night First kissgood healthprecious life{“}] couragebeautyhopecompassionlove New Orleans Mardi Grasflying kites at sunset [“or”] Puppys {“} Kittens childrensmiles laughterfriendship familyChocolateGPUMPKINS SPICEGINGERBREADCANDYCORNDOGS[“and last but not least”] JAZZ

Thelonious Monk

“Jazz is the only music in which the same note can be played night after night but differently each time.”
-Thelonious Monk

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

20 Jazz Music Quotes to Get You Inspired
1. “Jazz is the only music in which the same note can be played night after night but differently each time.” -Ornette Coleman
2. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Jazz is dead.” -Kamasi Washington
3. “Jazz is not dead, it just smells funny.” -Frank Zappa
4. “Jazz is the music of freedom.” -Dizzy Gillespie
5. “In jazz, there are no wrong notes.” -Thelonious Monk
6. “It’s all improvised, even the words.” -Charlie Parker
7. “I’m gonna tell you how I feel about jazz: jazz is my life.” -Louis Armstrong
8. “There’d be no jazz without New Orleans.” -Wynton Marsalis
9. “What is this thing called jazz?” -Duke Ellington
10. “Jazz is like a mountain stream, with gurgling rhythms and trickling melodies winding their way through rocky terrain, suddenly bursting forth into sparkling waterfalls of harmony and improvisation.” -Martin Mull
11. “Jazz musicians enjoy playing together because they know that each member of the group is creative and skilled in his own right, and that each one has something important to contribute to the music.” -John Philip Sousa
12. “Most people think that playing in a jazz band means just goofing off all the time and playing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it. But that’s not true at all! It takes a lot of hard work and discipline to play jazz well.” – Herb Alpert
13. “Writing about music is like dancing about architecture- it’s a really stupid thing to want to do.”- Frank Zappa
14. “I’ve tried my hand at several things, but I always came back to what I was born for – making music, particularly jazz”- Miles Davis
15. “A man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life” – Muhammad Ali
16. “It has always been my contention that creation comes out of improvisation”- Dave Brubeck
17. “Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life” – Berthold Auerbach
18. “Music brings a warm glow to my vision, thawing out concerning and frosting over worry”- Muddy Waters

“Jazz is the sound of surprise.”

1. “Jazz is the sound of surprise.” – Duke Ellington
2. “You can’t play anything on a saxophone that isn’t sexy.” – Quincy Jones
3. “When you play a wrong note it’s a beauty if you play it loud enough.” – Thelonious Monk
4. “If you don’t take a chance, you don’t have a chance.” – Jimmy Lyons
5. “Don’t play what’s there, play what’s not there.” – Miles Davis
6. “It has always been my definition of jazz to play the surprising notes.” – Rahsaan Roland Kirk
7. “Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts.” – Miles Davis
8. “I’m just trying to make a smudge on the canvas.” – Charles Mingus
9. “Good music is good music, and that’s all there is to it.” – Dizzy Gillespie
10. “It takes two to make a mistake.” – Ornette Coleman
11. “Creating something new is not accomplished by having an open mind – rather it’s accomplished by applying your mind to open possibilities .” – Wynton Marsalis
12. “I think improvisation is about the loss of control – about surrendering yourself to the moment and trusting your instincts .” – Pat Metheny
13. “When you improvise, you have to go with what comes out of your soul – otherwise it’s not going to swing .” – Louie Bellson
14. “Jazz is NOT dead – it just smells funny!” — Frank Zappa
15. “Jazz washes away the dust of everyday life .” — Art Blakey
16. “There is no other music that can touch your soul or lift your spirits like Jazz! It can inspire and energize us when we are down, Jazz gives us hope!” — Ramsey Lewis
17. “If you don’t live it, it won’t come out your horn .�� — Charlie Parker
18 . “Be yourself and don’t be afraid to stretch out and color outside of the lines once in awhile . — Branford Marsalis
19 . “Without craftsmanship, inspiration is a mere reed shaken in the wind .” — Johannes Brahms
20 . “In jazz, there are no wrong notes… only interesting choices .

“Jazz is not dead, it just smells funny.”

1. “Jazz is not dead, it just smells funny.”
-Frank Zappa

2. “Jazz is the past and the future of music.”
-Wynton Marsalis

3. “For me, jazz is the total freedom of expression.”
-John Coltrane

4. “If you have to ask what jazz is, you’ll never know.”
-Louis Armstrong

5. “Jazz washes away the dust of every day life.”
-Art Blakey

6. “My goal is to be one of the greatest jazz guitarists that ever lived.”
-Wes Montgomery
7. “To play a wrong note is insignificant; to play without passion is inexcusable!”
-Ludwig van Beethoven (not a jazz musician but we love him anyway) 😉 8. “Without craftsmanship, inspiration is a mere reed shaken in the wind.”

9. “In jazz, there’s a lot of improvisation, and it takes a long time to really sound like yourself.” -Pat Metheny 10. “Play your own way; don’t be marked by others.”

“Jazz is the teacher of freedom.”

“Jazz is the teacher of freedom.”
-Ornette Coleman

“Jazz is not dead. It just smells funny.”
-Frank Zappa

“Jazz is the music of surprise.”
-Duke Ellington

“Jazz is a good time had by all.”
-Kid Ory

“Without music, life would be a mistake.”
-Friedrich Nietzsche

“Music is the universal language of mankind.”
-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“Music is the wine which inspires one to new generative processes, and I am Bacchus who presses out this glorious wine for mankind and makes them spiritually drunken.”
-Ludwig van Beethoven

“Music is well said to be the speech of angels.”

Thomas Carlyle

“In jazz, there are no wrong notes.”

“In jazz, there are no wrong notes.” – Thelonious Monk

“Jazz is the sound of surprise.” – Duke Ellington

“Jazz is the only music in which the same note can be played night after night but differently each time.” – Ornette Coleman

“Jazz is not dead, it just smells funny.” – Frank Zappa

“If you have to ask what jazz is, you’ll never know.” – Louis Armstrong

“Jazz is the folk music of the advanced society.” – Theodor Adorno

“For me, jazz is a way of life, not just a music genre.” – Herbie Hancock

“Jazz washes away the dust of every day life.” – Art Blakey

“As long as you play your own thing, whatever you play is cool.” – Miles Davis

“In my opinion, there’s no such thing as good or bad jazz. There’s only true or false jazz.” – Dexter Gordon

“Jazz took me over and never let me go. I wouldn’t want it any other way either.” – Charles Mingus

“My advice to young people serious about their career in music is to find their own voice and stay with it. They have to develop an approach and style that’s all their own. Be yourself and don’t try to copy anybody else… True artists keep evolving all their lives and never lose their excitement about playing or composing.” – Dave Brubeck

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

“Jazz is the only music in which the same note can be played night after night but differently each time.”
-Ornette Coleman

“All jazz is Ghanaian music.”
-Eddie Palmieri

“In jazz, rhythm finds its own place.”
-Wynton Marsalis

“In jazz, there’s a lot of give and take. You listen to each other and you try to come up with something that’s all your own.”
-Diana Krall

“I’m just trying to make a smorgasbord of music that will reflect my taste in as many genres as I can fit into my mouth at one time.”
-Donald Fagen

“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – jazz is dead.”
-Lester Bangs
]

“Jazz is the sound of surprise.”

-Duke Ellington

“There is no other music that can touch people’s souls the way that jazz does.”
-Wynton Marsalis

“Jazz is not just music, it’s a way of life, it’s a way of being, a way of thinking.”
-Max Roach

“All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree. All these aspirations are directed toward ennobling man’s life, lifting it from the sphere of mere physical existence and leading the individual towards freedom.”
-Albert Einstein

“Jazz is the sound of surprise.”
-Duke Ellington

“Jazz is not dead, it just smells funny.”

“Jazz is not dead, it just smells funny.” – Frank Zappa

“Without music, life would be a mistake.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“Jazz is the sound of surprise.” – Duke Ellington

“It’s all music.” – Miles Davis

“Music is the language of the spirit. It opens the secret of life bringing peace, abolishing strife.” – Khalil Gibran

“Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” – Berthold Auerbach

“If you want to make beautiful music, you must play the black and the white notes together.” – Richard M. Nixon

“Where words fail, music speaks.” – Hans Christian Andersen

“Music is an outburst of the soul.” – Frederick Delius

“Jazz is the teacher of freedom.”

“Jazz is the teacher of freedom.”

-Ornette Coleman

“Jazz is not dead, it just smells funny.”

-Frank Zappa

“You have to have a feel for the music before you can do it justice.”

-Tony Bennett

“Jazz is the sound of surprise.”

-Duke Ellington

“For me, jazz is about going someplace where you’ve never been before.”

-Miles Davis
“A beautiful thing about jazz is that it’s never finished. It’s always evolving and moving forward.” -Wynton Marsalis

“Jazz harmony is something that anybody with a little bit of brains and a little bit of soul and ear can grasp. It’s not that complicated, but it’s still got depth to it.” -Dr. John “As long as you’re having fun, you’re playing jazz.” -Christian McBride “Nobody likes jazz except other musicians.” -Dragonball Z “If somebody was to ask me what my influences were, I’d say James Brown and John Coltrane- too much for one lifetime!” -D’Angelo “Jazz will endure just as long people hear it through their feet instead of their brains.” -John Philip Sousa

“In jazz, there are no wrong notes.”

“In jazz, there are no wrong notes.”
-Thelonious Monk

“Jazz is the only music in which the same note can be played night after night but differently each time.”
-Ornette Coleman

“Jazz is not dead. It just smells funny.”
-Frank Zappa

“Jazz is the sound of surprise.”
-Duke Ellington

“A jazz musician is a summary of all of the music that he has ever heard, and all of his living experiences have gone into molding his own individual interpretation of whatever he chooses to play.”
-Wynton Marsalis

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

“Jazz is the sound of surprise.” – Duke Ellington

“Jazz is not dead, it just smells funny.” – Frank Zappa

“Jazz is the doorkeeper to the American experience.” – Wynton Marsalis

“For me, jazz is a feeling. It’s not an intellectual thing.” – Billie Holiday

“Jazz is rhythm and feeling, there’s no school can teach it.” – Frank Sinatra

“In jazz, there are no wrong notes.” – Thelonious Monk

“It has always been my contention that creative people should berespected for their contributions to our culture and not take second place to celebrities or corporate America. Jazz embodies creativity and artistic freedom in its truest form andManhattan Transfer celebrates that freedom in every performance.” – Janis Siegel

“I think jazz will always be with us. I think it’s one of America’s great contributions to music, particularly improvisation… In some ways it may be disappearing a bit as a commercial art form, but as an influence on other forms of music I don’t think it will ever disappear.” – Sting

“I see jazz as the purest expression of American democracy; a music built on individual and communal creativity; on cooperation and interaction; a democratic music that calls for personal commitment as well as inventiveness.” – Wynton Marsalis

“[Jazz] means having the time to develop an idea… improvising with other musicians who understand your concept and ideas so well they can interpret them in their own way and create something new with them. It also means having enough time to grow musically without pressure from record companies or club owners who want you to imitate what was popular last month. It means blowing your horn the way you feel, regardless of what is commercial or not.”- Miles Davis

“Jazz is the sound of surprise.”

– Duke Ellington
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, United States. It emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and developed from roots in blues and ragtime. Jazz is seen by many as “America’s classical music”. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, jazz has become recognized as a major form of musical expression. It then emerged in the form of independent traditional and popular musical styles, all linked by the common bonds of African-American and European-American musical parentage with a performance orientation.

“Jazz is not dead, it just smells funny.”

“Jazz is not dead, it just smells funny.” – Frank Zappa

“A jazz musician is a juggler who uses harmonies instead of oranges.” – Billy Strayhorn

“Jazz is the big bang of American music.” – Wynton Marsalis

“In jazz, there is always someone to catch you when you fall.” – Mel Tormé

“I think that Jazz, because it was improvised, because it was the music of the moment, of now, will always be with us.” – Wynton Marsalis

“If you don’t have any Countries, traditions or cultures in your music then jazz is about as good as it gets!” – Wayne Shorter

“Jazz cleanses your soul and strengthens your ability to hear yourself and know yourself. This gives you courage not to accept things as they appear at face value but to be critical.” – Clark Terry

“Jazz isn’t dead, it just smells funny!” – Frank Zappa

“‘Free’ jazz doesn’t mean anything. It’s just a name people put on something they don’t understand.” – Dexter Gordon

“Jazz is the teacher of freedom.”

“Jazz is the teacher of freedom.”
-Ornette Coleman

“Jazz is the sound of God smiling.”
-Thad Jones

“For me, jazz is a sound, a way of life… You don’t play jazz, you live it.”
-Wynton Marsalis

“Jazz isn’t dead, it just smells funny.”
-Frank Zappa

“A jazz musician is a improviser first and foremost. Everything else flows from that.”
-Wynton Marsalis

“In jazz, everything happens on the spur of the moment. But you have to be prepared for it.”
-Herbie Hancock
— Charlie Parker

“In jazz, there are no wrong notes.”

“In jazz, there are no wrong notes.” – Thelonious Monk

“A jazz musician is a disciplined person who is willing to take risks.” – Dave Brubeck

“Jazz is the sound of surprise.” – Duke Ellington

“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country through jazz.” – Wynton Marsalis

“Jazz is the expression of America; an international language which speaks of liberty, and opportunity. Jazz bands brought people together.” – President Barack Obama

“Jazz is not dead, it just smells funny.” – Frank Zappa

“If you have to ask what jazz is, you’ll never know.” – Louis Armstrong

“Jazz is the only music in which the same note can be played night after night but differently each time.” – Ornette Coleman

“Jazz washes away the dust of everyday life.” – Art Blakey

“For me, improvisation is about personality. You have two people playing the same notes, but one might play it harder and with more attitude. The other might make you feel like he’s cradle rocks you to sleep every time he plays that note. That’s personality. And in jazz, there aren’t any mistakes.” – Miles Davis