At least one day out of the year all musicans should just put their instruments down, and give thanks to Duke Ellington.
MILES DAVISI’ve always told the musicians in my band to play what they know and then play above that. Because then anything can happen, and that’s where great art and music happens.
More Miles Davis Quotes
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I always listen to what I can leave out.
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Music is an addiction.
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Jazz musicians are so comfortable. The reason they can’t do what we do is because they’re so comfortable doin’ what they do.
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Do not fear mistakes. There are none.
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If I hear a song like “Time After Time.” I’m sittin’ there lookin’ at video and Cindy Lauper comes on singin’ this song. I said, “God damnnnnn!”
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I like Stan [Getz], because he has so much patience, the way he plays those melodies – other people can’t get nothing out of a song, but he can, which takes a lot of imagination.
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You have to know 400 notes that you can play, then pick the right four.
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My father’s rich, my momma’s good looking. Right? And I can play the Blues. I’ve never suffered and don’t intend to suffer.
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I usually write from the rhythm section…If a drummer got a funky beat on some things – like a half-shuffle or a shuffle or a backbeat that’s even – I can write something.
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I don’t pay no attention to what critics say about me, the good or the bad. The toughest critic I got is myself…and I’m too vain to play anything I think is bad.
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If you don’t know what to play, play nothing.
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Sometimes you have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself.
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Don’t worry about playing a lot of notes. Just find one pretty one.
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It takes a long time to sound like yourself.
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I’m not messing around with nobody’s woman. If I want a woman I go get her – you know what I mean?
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When you work with great musicians, they are always a part of you . . . their spirits are walking around in me, so they’re still here and passing it on to others.
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People will go for anything they don’t understand if it’s got enough hype.
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I can’t write anything for myself. I can write when I hear like [John] Coltrane play something; I used to write chords and stuff for him to play in one bar. I can write for other people, but I don’t never write for myself.
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If you’re going to drop behind, you have to keep it there.
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Americans don’t like any form of art, man. All they like to do is make money. They don’t like me, Sammy Davis, or anybody else. They don’t like nothing. They just like Sammy because he can make ’em a lot of money.
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Always listen for what you can leave out.
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Good music is good no matter what kind of music it is.
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Some musicians play with their heart, you know what I mean? I don’t know what to tell a person that can’t – if you can’t tell a person what you’re talkin’ about when they’re rushin’ or droppin’ the tempo, you get somebody else.
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My future starts when I wake up every morning.
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Anybody can play. The note is only 20 percent. The attitude of the motherfucker who plays it is 80 percent.
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In music, silence is more important than sound.
MILES DAVIS