Miles Davis Quotes
1926–1991 United States
Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926 – September 28, 1991) was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer.
- United States
- Activists
- Actors
- Agnostics
- Composers
Also known as: Davis, Miles
Random Miles Davis quote
18 quotes
For me, music and life are all about style.
the Autobiography (1989)
My ego only needs a good rhythm section.
When you are creating your own shit, man, even the sky ain't the limit.
I've changed music four or five times. What have you done of any importance other than be white?
the Autobiography (1989)
Don't play what's there, play what's not there.
Try taking the fucking horn out of your mouth.
I’ll play it and tell you what it is later.
Why'd you put that white bitch on there?
If somebody told me I only had an hour to live, I'd spend it choking a white man. I'd do it nice and slow.
I love Pops, I love the way he sings, the way he plays - everything he does, except when he says something against modern-jazz music.
In Playboy to Alex Haley (1962)
A legend is an old man with a cane known for what he used to do. I'm still doing it.
When they make records with all the mistakes in, as well as the rest, then they'll really make jazz records. If the mistakes aren't there too, it ain't none of you.
It's that goddamned motherfucking 'Machine Gun.'
He could very well be the Duke Ellington of Rock 'n' Roll.
Is that what you wanted, Alfred?
I can't tell... All those white tenor players sound alike to me.
The only thing I'm interested in is the music and the musicians. I don't acknowledge applause 'cause I'm giving them something. They're not giving me anything with their applause. Can I write that down?
Coleman Hawkins told me never to play with someone older than me, and I never have. With older players, there's no force, no drive. With younger players, it's not that you know it all, or I know it all—it's I'm trying to learn it all.