“Don’t worry about playing a lot of notes. Just find one pretty one.”

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.

A legend is an old man with a cane known for what he used to do. I’m still doing it.

I don’t care if a dude is purple with green breath as long as he can swing.

It’s not the notes you play, it’s the notes you don’t play.

I’ll play it first and figure out what it’s called later.

You can dominate a game if you dominate on the line… We’re just going to have to go out there and work hard and blow people off the ball, and let our runners do what they do best.

The only reason to write a new song is because you’re tired of the old ones.

In other words, an instrument should be an extension of you; it’s supposed to sound like you – the way you walk, the way you dress, you know.

I know what I’ve done for music, but don’t call me a legend. Just call me Miles Davis.

Do not fear mistakes. There are none.

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.

You should never be comfortable, man. Being comfortable fouled up a lot of musicians.

I’m not messing around with nobody’s woman. If I want a woman I go get her – you know what I mean?

I ain’t no entertainer, and ain’t trying to be one. I am one thing, a musician.

All my inspiration comes from Ahmad Jamal.

Always look ahead, but never look back.

Notes don’t make music until you learn to insert silence between them.

Note to self: It’s a good idea to ask, “What am I not doing?

In the best possible scenario, whenever you get notes from people, they’re good notes, and they see things that you wouldn’t have seen otherwise, and they make you a better writer.

If I have a song where I hit some really high notes, I want to try to bring in equivalently low notes somewhere in there.

It’s not the notes you play, it’s the notes you don’t play.

There are no wrong notes.

There is more value in placing a flower in a rifle barrel than making war. As Jimi Hendrix used to say, musical notes have more importance than bullets.

No notes. You speak from deep in your heart. It’s easy.