black
grey
blue
red
brown
white

Sometimes you have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself.

Miles Davis

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!”
MILES DAVIS

Goodness Music Myself Time Video
My ego only needs a good rhythm section.
MILES DAVIS

Ego Goodness Myself Rhythm Section
Keith, how does it feel to be a genius?
MILES DAVIS

Feeling Genius One Liner
A legend is an old man with a cane known for what he used to do. I’m still doing it.
MILES DAVIS

Known Man Myself Old
You can’t compete with Sweets’ sound and time feel. It’s impossible.
MILES DAVIS

Feeling Impossible Sound Time Yourself
Do not fear mistakes. There are none.
MILES DAVIS

Fear Instrument Mistake Musician None One Liner
I ain’t no entertainer, and ain’t trying to be one. I am one thing, a musician.
MILES DAVIS

Entertainment Musician Myself Trying
You can’t eat a winner’s plaque.
MILES DAVIS

Eat Win Yourself
Bebop didn’t have the humanity of Duke Ellington. It didn’t even have that recognizable thing. Bird and Diz were great, fantastic, challenging – but they weren’t sweet.
MILES DAVIS

Challenge Greatness Humanity Recognition Sweet
If somebody told me I only had an hour to live, I’d spend it choking a white man. I’d do it nice and slow.
MILES DAVIS

Kill Live Man Myself Slow White
You can’t play anything on a horn that Louis Armstrong hasn’t played.
MILES DAVIS

Horn Instrument Play Yourself
In music, silence is more important than sound.
MILES DAVIS

Important Music Silence Sound
A painting is music you can see and music is a painting you can hear.
MILES DAVIS

Hear Music Painting See Yourself
I don’t care if a dude is purple with green breath as long as he can swing.
MILES DAVIS

Appearance Care Himself Myself
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

Instrument Music Play Right Wrong Yourself
Don’t worry about playing a lot of notes. Just find one pretty one.
MILES DAVIS

Finding Music Notes Oneself Play Worry
I think every Negro over fifty should get a medal for putting up with all that crap.
MILES DAVIS

Thinking Tolerance
You have to practice for a long time before you can learn to sound like yourself.
MILES DAVIS

Learning Practice Sound Time Yourself
In high school I was best in music class on the trumpet, but the prizes went to the boys with blue eyes. I made up my mind to outdo anybody white on my horn.
MILES DAVIS

Best Discrimination Musician Myself White
I’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.
MILES DAVIS

Art Greatness Music Play
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

Music Myself Sell Word
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

Ability Chemistry Known Play Togetherness
What’s swinging in words? If a guy makes you pat your foot and if you feel it down your back, you don’t have to ask anybody if that’s good music or not. You can always feel it.
MILES DAVIS

Down Feeling Foot Goodness Music Word Yourself
In improvisation, there are no mistakes.
MILES DAVIS

Improvisation Mistake Spontaneous
For me, music and life are all about style.
MILES DAVIS

Life Music Style
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.
MILES DAVIS

Instrument Sound Walk Way Yourself
When kids don’t learn about their own heritage in school, they just don’t care about school… But you won’t see it in the history books unless we get the power to write our own history and tell our story ourselves.
MILES DAVIS

Children Heritage History Learning Ourselves Story

Sometimes you have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

Sometimes you have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

More Miles Davis Quotes