Michael Max Fleming Quotes

I came to New York City in 1963, and the place was really jumping. I worked at the Five Spot with Rahsaan. That’s when they would book two bands playing together for four-week stints. I played with Rahsaan opposite Sonny Rollins. There was a lot of great music in the city then. I didn’t come here to be famous, I came here to play with famous people. There was a time in New York when you could play six days a week, every week of the year. I feel sorry for the younger musicians now, because there’s something to be said about playing every day in front of an audience." - Michael Max Fleming

source: Interview with the New York Times (June 23, 2010)

Paul Smoker Quotes

"I go down to New York, do the project, and leave. I have no interest in participating in the rat race down there. Hip jazz fans know who I am. There's a generation of musicians in New York who know my records better than I do." - Paul Smoker

source: Interview with Ron Netsky / Rochester City Newspaper (June 22, 2010)

Christian McBride Quotes

"The most significant bands I played in when I first got to New York were Bobby Watson’s band, Roy Hargrove’s first band, Benny Golson’s band, Benny Green’s trio, and probably the most significant out of all of those, for me personally, was playing in Freddie Hubbard’s band." - Christian McBride

source: digitalinterviews.com

Christian McBride Quotes

"That’s when I left Philly, to move up here to New York City. I learned a lot at Juilliard. It was actually my original intention to have a dual career. I wanted to have a career playing as much music as possible. I wanted to try to play jazz if I could. I wanted to play classical. I wanted to play R&B. I wanted to try to play everything but, obviously, that would be really hard to do. I went to Juilliard, obviously on a classical scholarship. I figured I was in New York City, so I would get to go to jam sessions and play with all of the jazz cats at night, and I could study classical in school during the day. But, you know, one thing led to another, and I wound up getting a lot of gigs on the jazz scene, and I had to temporarily hang up my classical career." - Christian McBride

source: digitalinterviews.com

Don Alias Quotes

"Then, on my way to California, I decided to stop in New York to do some research. I couldn't leave, because that's where the music was!" - Don Alias

source: digitalinterviews.com

Don Alias Quotes

"I grew up learning this stuff on the streets of New York. My brother and I used to play in the subway for money." - Don Alias

source:digitalinterviews.com

John A. Kouwenhoven Quotes

"The structure of a jazz performance is, like that of the New York skyline, a tension of cross-purposes. In jazz at its characteristic best, each player seems to be—and has the sense of being—on his own. Each goes his own way, inventing rhythmic and melodic patterns which, superficially, seem to have as little relevance to one another as the United Nations building does to the Empire State. And yet the outcome is a dazzlingly precise creative unity." — John A. Kouwenhoven

Sweets Edison Quotes

"New York was a school, it was a lesson .. I had so much fun in New York that when I first went there, I never went to bed. I fell out one night and went to the hospital. I couldn't go to sleep. I was afraid I'd miss something." - Sweets Edison

Sweets Edison Quotes

"That's the one part about that movie, 'The Cotton Club,' that's true. They didn't allow blacks in there. I couldn't even go there to pick up my wife. I had to stand on the corner and wait for her to come out. So I finally got to the point I wouldn't even go down and pick her up. Cause I was having too much fun in Harlem, anyway." - Sweets Edison

Benny Goodman Quotes

"When I first arrived (in New York), it seemed to me the most terrifying city in the world… all those big buildings. I remember walking on Broadway, looking up at this huge, mountainous place—and being so lonely. But things started to clear up when I met a few people on the street whom I’d met before—all of a sudden there got to be a certain familiarity about the place, and the terror kind of evaporated. There was a lot of playing going on, and the New Yorkers, of course, were a completely different crowd from what I’d known." - Benny Goodman

source: Interview with American Heritage Magazine (Oct/Nov, 1981)

Ben Webster Quotes

"I’ve been back in New York a year and a half now. Before that I was on the West Coast for five years. There’s no comparison between the two. You hear things in New York you don’t hear anywhere else. Unless these guys go out. Quite a few make it out to the Coast. Of course, you can’t stay in New York for ever. You have to move." - Ben Webster

source: Interview with Les Tomkins, 1965.

Ben Webster Quotes

"I used to live at the Cecil Hotel, which was next door to Minton’s [Playhouse]. We used to jam just about every night when we were off. Lester [Young], Don Byas and myself — we would meet there all the time and like, exchange ideas. It wasn’t a battle, or anything. We were all friends. Most of the guys around then knew where I lived. If someone came in Minton’s and started to play — well, they’d give me a ring, or come up and call me down. Either I’d take my horn down, or I’d go down and listen. Those were good days. Had a lot of fun then." - Ben Webster

source: Interview with Les Tomkins, 1965.

Bill Evans Quotes

"In New York, it's pathetic to see so many superb musicians who are starving! Maybe somewhere else they would be kings, but in New York, they're nobody. I had to fight myself for a long time. When I arrived in New York, I had to wait three years before I made it. But it's very hard. If you succeed easily, you run the risk of falling back down as easily. But if you take the time and your talent is real, it will last." - Bill Evans

source: Interview with Jazz Magazine (France), 1965

Gyorgy Ligeti Quotes

"New York is the dream world, the center of jazz and rock." - Gyorgy Ligeti

Thelonious Monk Quotes

"Those who want to know what sound goes into my music should come to NY and open their ears." - Thelonious Monk

Max Roach Quotes

"When we got back to New York, a lot of it had been recorded so you couldn't hear the bass anyway, so on some of the pieces, [Charles Mingus] just dubbed himself in. I think it's one of the earliest times that a person overdubbed themselves." - Max Roach (on 'Jazz at Massey Hall')

Ray Brown Quotes

"I went up to his [Hank Jones'] house and there were four guys there: Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, and Max Roach. Not a bad place to be. Scared shitless, but a nice place to be on my second day in New York." - Ray Brown

Herb Geller Quotes

"The newspapers printed sensational headlines like 'East Coast vs. West Coast' - as if the musicians of New York and LA were sworn enemies. Nonsense of course, but at least that way we got a little publicity." - Herb Geller

Miroslav Vitous Quotes

"I actually met Chick Corea in New York, where I was staying with a bass player friend." - Miroslav Vitous

Madeleine Peyroux Quotes

"My father's record collection was full of New Orleans music of all kinds. I used to listen to the radio in New York, and all there was on it at the time was Madonna and Michael Jackson, so it sort of passed me by." - Madeleine Peyroux