Herbie Hancock

The arts have always served relationships between people of different cultures so well. In a way, the arts function as a very serious kind of ambassador.

It's not easy to play in a framework that requires simplicity and to tastefully find ways to interject the kind of freedom that we have in playing jazz.

As a human being, I'm concerned about the world that I live in. So, I'm concerned about peace. I'm concerned about - about man's inhumanity to man. I'm concerned about the environment.

My first Grammy wasn't even in a jazz category, but of course I was really excited. 'Rockit' was the beginning of kind of a new era for the whole hip-hop movement.

World peace is no longer some pie-in-the-sky thing, because no single person or country is going to solve it on their own.

The spirit of jazz is the spirit of openness.

One thing I like about jazz is that it emphasized doing things differently from what other people were doing.

It pulled me like a magnet, jazz did, because it was a way that I could express myself.

It's not the style that motivates me, as much as an attitude of openness that I have when I go into a project.

You can practice to learn a technique, but I'm more interested in conceiving of something in the moment.

I hope that I can make good music out of whatever genre I go into. Just to prove to myself that I can.

I like the idea of an eclectic approach, incorporating jazz with other forms and other genres of music.

All you have to do is play one note. But it needs to be the right note.

Creativity and artistic endeavors have a mission that goes far beyond just making music for the sake of music.

It's not exclusive, but inclusive, which is the whole spirit of jazz.

Jazz is a music that is open enough to borrow from any other form of music, and has the strength to influence any other form of music.

You would not exist if you did not have something to bring to the table of life.

Jazz translates the moment into a sense of inspiration for not only the musicians but for the listeners.

You can practice to attain knowledge, but you can't practice to attain wisdom.