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.
MILES DAVISThere are no wrong notes.
More Miles Davis Quotes
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You can’t compete with Sweets’ sound and time feel. It’s impossible.
MILES DAVIS -
It’s not the note you play that’s the wrong note – it’s the note you play afterwards that makes it right or wrong.
MILES DAVIS -
I used to enjoy all the white bands when I was a kid listening to the radio. But the record companies, they take music and label it – like, they say “rock”. Because the white singers can’t sound like James Brown, they call him “soul”. They’ve been doing that for years. That’s the prejudice crap.
MILES DAVIS -
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.
MILES DAVIS -
In improvisation, there are no mistakes.
MILES DAVIS -
That was my gift having the ability to put certain guys together that would create a chemistry and then letting them go; letting them play what they knew, and above it.
MILES DAVIS -
I don’t care if a dude is purple with green breath as long as he can swing.
MILES DAVIS -
If you don’t know what to play, play nothing.
MILES DAVIS -
First you imitate, then you innovate.
MILES DAVIS -
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.
MILES DAVIS -
The only reason to write a new song is because you’re tired of the old ones.
MILES DAVIS -
I’m out there doing the best that I can, My lip is cut and I’m still playing.
MILES DAVIS -
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.
MILES DAVIS -
I can tell whether a person can play just by the way he stands.
MILES DAVIS -
You have to know 400 notes that you can play, then pick the right four.
MILES DAVIS -
I’m always thinking about creating. My future starts when I wake up every morning… Every day I find something creative to do with my life.
MILES DAVIS -
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.
MILES DAVIS -
Jazz is an Uncle Tom word. They should stop using that word for selling. I told George Wein the other day that he should stop using it.
MILES DAVIS -
It takes a long time to sound like yourself.
MILES DAVIS -
[Jazz musicians] feel comfortable with their clichés, you know.
MILES DAVIS -
To keep creating you have to be about change.
MILES DAVIS -
People will go for anything they don’t understand if it’s got enough hype.
MILES DAVIS -
With “We Are The World,” I can’t even eat when I watch that on television. If I’m eatin’ some food, I have to put it down. I feel very strongly about that.
MILES DAVIS -
Always listen for what you can leave out.
MILES DAVIS -
I’ll play it first and figure out what it’s called later.
MILES DAVIS -
I’m not messing around with nobody’s woman. If I want a woman I go get her – you know what I mean?
MILES DAVIS