Having precise ideas often leads to a man doing nothing.
Bud Powell's probably the biggest influence on my piano playing.
The iconoclastic mode, that specific mode of language, there is an element of it that it is punk - that is confrontational. That's just a part of the language of jazz - at a certain point.
What makes bebop legitimate is the fact that when it was done, it was illegitimate.
His name, even, is part of the marketing scheme, I mean, Thelonious Sphere Monk - how can you think of a better name to fit his style of playing?
I can imagine an utter hatred for the jazz avant-garde.
I like people not being able to be pigeon-holed.
Sometimes, it is not the kings and queen who make for the most fascinating history but the shadowy souls who happen to be in the right place at the right time.
Americans tend not to be too enthusiastic about having their taxes raised again. . . . But if the American people aren't going to accept it, if the politicians don't have the courage to raise taxes, what are we facing down the road?
Permission from the government is an expensive commodity. New ideas rarely have this kind of support. Old ideas often have deep legislative connections to defend them against the new.
To me, the producer is there to make sure the album gets done and gets done as good as possible. So if that means that you have to help write a bridge or help write a part, that's what you do. If that means you help tune the guitars, then that's what you do. If that means all you do is tell the band their takes are good and they should stop f - - - with things, then that's what you do. Sometimes it's a little more stressful than others, but for the most part, you just don't complain about it and you just get it done.