68 Quotes by Charles Mingus

That sound in tune to you? Sounds sharp to me. Sounds like I'm playing sharp all the time. My singing teacher told us you should do that. Maybe I got it from her. She said singers when they grow old have a tendency to go flat. So if you sing sharp as a young person, as you get older and go flat, you'll be in tune. In other words, it's never thought good to be flat. It means you can't get to the tone.

Most of the soloists at Birdland had to wait for Parker's next record in order to find out what to play next. What will they do now?

What do you think happens to a composer who is sincere and loves to write and has to wait thirty years to have someone play a piece of his music?

I was born swinging and clapped my hands in church as a little boy, but I've grown up and I like to do things other than just swing. But blues can do more than just swing.

If someone has been escaping reality, I don't expect him to dig my music.

Tastes are created by the business interests. How else can you explain the popularity of Al Hirt?

I always wanted to be a spontaneous composer.

I was always doing revolutionary things, things that would alert people, so they would stop being so subservient.

Life has many changes. Tomorrow it may rain, and it's supposed to be sunshine, 'cause it's summertime. But God's got a funny soul, he plays like Charlie Parker.