The only element of jazz that I keep is improvisation.

Coltrane was moving out of jazz into something else. And certainly Miles Davis was doing the same thing.

When we are on tour we also take chances.

Other times I say: I would very much like to try to do something with this music, but after playing for a few minutes, I have to break off.

Jazz, for me, is a closed circuit, like the term baroque in the world of classical music.

There's a certain phraseology involved in jazz, and I've moved away from that.

Sometimes it works, sometimes it fails, but that's what we face when we're dealing with improvisation.

I feel very strongly when there's no chance for me to find a key to a piece.

You have to react to what's around you in the moment, whatever the music is. Just think of it as some place you have to enter and you need to find the key.

If you feel you have the right key, you try to make some phrase or sound that will fit.

Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black.

Wolves are brotherly, " he said. "They love each other, and if you learn to speak to them, they will love you too.

I must represent France, and I want to be elegant, and I want the French people to be proud of me.

This is not a business where you can hand off and run by remote control.

It's whatever sells; it's the business of it.

I used to be Irish Catholic. Now I'm an American - you know, you grow.

And he had a nice home in Ohio with wife, daughter, Christmas tree, two cars, garage, lawn, lawnmower, but he couldn't enjoy any of it because he really wasn't free. It was sadly true.

Be inspired to ignore their ignorant message, and feel gratitude in your heart that you are not burdened or addicted to hate, as they are.

My experience is that you can't possibly win against whatever the tidal wave is that's coming at you.

A true artist takes no notice whatever of the public. The public to him are non-existent.