Our nights didn't begin until after noon. Because in the old days, you'd start Birdland at 8:30 or 9 pm and play until 4 in the morning. Then you'd g….

I never heard my music played the way I heard it in my head..

I, myself, came to enjoy the players who didn't only just swing but who invented new rhythmic patterns, along with new melodic concepts. And those pe….

My music is evidence of my souls will to live..

Jazz music is a language of the emotions..

I admire anyone who can come up with something original. But not originality alone, because there can be originality in stupidity, with no musical de….

In my music, I'm trying to play the truth of what I am..

Life has many changes. Tomorrow it may rain, and it's supposed to be sunshine, 'cause it's summertime. But God's got a funny soul, he plays like Char….

Thelonius Monk went over to Bird and Bud Powell and said, 'I told you guys to act crazy, but I didn't tell you to fall in love with the act. You're r….

They're singing your praises while stealing your phrases..

If you think this is weird, just look at yourselves..

Since the white man says he came from the evolution of animals, well, maybe the black man didn't. The white man has made so many errors in the handli….

Most customers, by the time the musicians reach the second set, are to some extent inebriated. They don't care what you play anyway..

Tastes are created by the business interests. How else can you explain the popularity of Al Hirt?.

I was born swinging and clapped my hands in church as a little boy, but I've grown up and I like to do things other than just swing. But blues can do….

Making the complicated simple is true creativity..

I was always doing revolutionary things, things that would alert people, so they would stop being so subservient..

Creativity is more than just being different. Anybody can plan weird; that's easy. What's hard is to be as simple as Bach. Making the simple, awesome….

I've got a feeling that if it's so easy for you - the struggle and the initiative are not as strong as they are for a person who has to struggle and ….

I am Charles Mingus, half black man, not even white enough to pass for nothing but black. I am Charles Mingus, a famed jazzman, but not famed enough ….

Bach is how buildings got taller. It's how we got to the moon..