The sound of the orchestra is one of the most magnificent musical sounds that has ever existed.
Chick Corea
You don't have to be Picasso or Rembrandt to create something. The fun of it, the joy of creating, is way high above anything else to do with the art form.
I've noticed that the more adventurous and in that mode that I am, it seems that the more the audience really likes it.
When I came to New York after high school in 1959 and started to meet musicians, 'Hot House' was like a standard jam session tune.
I like Stevie Wonder as my favorite non-pianist pianist. I mean, I shouldn't call him a non-pianist, because he's really a great pianist, but he doesn't feature it that much - he uses his keyboards and his piano technique to support his great songs and so forth, but he can really blow.
You'll find little schools of musicians experimenting with different ways of making music in Brooklyn, all through Manhattan, in Queens, in Jersey, you know? The city is still bubbling with creativity.
Only a spiritual being has awareness.
When I hear the piano played in a compositional way, like in a songwriter's way in a compositional way, there's a certain arc to that that I love.
I get interested in the various ways that music is being done in the culture, and some of it I like thoroughly enough to want to learn about it. The way I have been successful at doing that is to become part of it.
Now, when I play soul piano, for instance, and I play a rendition of 'Spain,' I do it deconstructively. That's the most fun, but I can only do that when I'm on my own.
Without a doubt, my richest relationships are my long-term friendships with musical partners, because we make music together. That's what we love to do with our lives.
I haven't traveled in Africa nearly as much as I'd like to. I've been there a few times, and I'd like to learn more about the various cultures in Africa. But that's the basis point of where all of the music that I love is based upon, from Africa to Cuba to Puerto Rico to South America.
I decided that I didn't want to spend my time in a liberal arts college.
Miles Davis was a part of my life from 1947 on. I was born in 1941 and I first heard him in 1947 on a 78 rpm. And then I followed his career, starting with his first solo album in 1951. He was an icon and inspiration and a mentor to me.
It's very difficult for me to dislike an artist. No matter what he's creating, the fact that he's experiencing the joy of creation makes me feel like we're in a brotherhood of some kind... we're in it together.
You get a zero at the end of your age number, and you get some extra attention. That's what I found out.
I got a chance to listen to and watch Thelonious Monk and his quartet play two shows a night, for six weeks. It was a great education. There was my university, man.
I call myself a teacher because they want me to call myself a teacher, but actually, what I'm doing is I'm studying.
The title 'Now He Sings, Now He Sobs' comes from 'I Ching,' an ancient Chinese book that I was into in the '60s when I was studying different philosophies and religions.
My one thing is I continue to be interested and want to be a student. I don't want to be a master. When I'm learning something, I'm in my element.
It's made music more accessible with YouTube and the ability to trade audio files. But it hasn't made it more popular.
If I had to look at 'Now He Sings'... from outside myself, I see it as a natural part of the growth of the jazz culture, which I've always been so happy - honored, really - to be a small part of.
I don't think any artist really knows why a song gets popular.
My wife, Gayle, is a wonderful musician and singer. We share music, so it's a deep bond.
Art is a subject that is inundated with opinions. In fact, that's all it is about is opinions.
It's a constant challenge to get your arrangement and musical expression across to a new audience, especially when you're playing live every night like we are.
People in the music business say don't make too many records because they'll compete against one another.
I enjoy playing the band as the band. I 'be' the whole band and I'm playing the drums, I'm playing the guitar, I'm playing the saxophone. To me, the most wonderful thing about playing music is that.
Every time I see a musician - it doesn't matter what age - that inspires me, there's always a secret little wish that maybe we'll play together, because that's how I learn and grow and so forth, you know. But hopefully there's a lot more.
Talking about the body getting old, there's a sadness to it in a way.
I came along in the '60s having absorbed as much as I could up until then and added my own tastes and search into the equation. I guess that's how I see 'Now He Sings, Now He Sobs' in relation to the development of jazz in general.
