If you listen to Louis Armstrong from 1929, you will never hear anything better than that really, and you will never hear anything more free than that.

Quote by Steve Lacy

Topics: Steve Lacy Quotes

I fell in love with jazz when I was 12 years old from listening to...

I fell in love with jazz when I was 12 years old from listening to...

Some people really want to play Mozart and be just performers. I was more interested...

Some people really want to play Mozart and be just performers. I was more interested...

I've always been extremely lucky in playing with great people who knew much more than...

I've always been extremely lucky in playing with great people who knew much more than...

Jazz is like wine. When it is new, it is only for the experts, but...

Jazz is like wine. When it is new, it is only for the experts, but...

You have to sound sad first of all, then maybe later you can sound good.

You have to sound sad first of all, then maybe later you can sound good.

The saxophone is a very interesting machine, but I'm more interested in music.

The saxophone is a very interesting machine, but I'm more interested in music.

Before the work comes to you, you have to invent work.

Before the work comes to you, you have to invent work.

To me, there is spirit in a reed. It's a living thing, a weed, really,...

To me, there is spirit in a reed. It's a living thing, a weed, really,...

They call me before they go into production, when they have a prototype, and they...

They call me before they go into production, when they have a prototype, and they...

Register is very important. Music sounds best in a certain register.

Register is very important. Music sounds best in a certain register.

Risk is at the heart of jazz. Every note we play is a risk.

Risk is at the heart of jazz. Every note we play is a risk.

You must have the music to justify an instrument's extensive use.

You must have the music to justify an instrument's extensive use.

It starts with a single sound. If there's something in that sound, then it's worth...

It starts with a single sound. If there's something in that sound, then it's worth...

There is an awful lot of what I call recreational jazz going on, where people...

There is an awful lot of what I call recreational jazz going on, where people...

When I first started playing music in 1955, there was just a small body of...

When I first started playing music in 1955, there was just a small body of...

I heard Sidney Bechet play a Duke Ellington piece and fell in love with the...

I heard Sidney Bechet play a Duke Ellington piece and fell in love with the...

I think it is in collaboration that the nature of art is revealed.

I think it is in collaboration that the nature of art is revealed.

Jazz is people's music, a collectivity.

Jazz is people's music, a collectivity.

I've performed solo for 20 years now, but I don't do much of it, because...

I've performed solo for 20 years now, but I don't do much of it, because...

Whoever has an original thing to say, it is sort of a threat to the...

Whoever has an original thing to say, it is sort of a threat to the...