218 Quotes by Miles Davis

We’re not going to play the blues anymore. Let the white folks play the blues. They got ’em, so they can keep ’em.

I don’t like to hear someone put down dixieland. Those people who say there’s no music but bop are just stupid; it shows how much they don’t know.

It’s always been a gift with me, hearing music the way I do. I don’t know where it comes from, it’s just there and I don’t question it.

If you have to ask, you’ll never know.

Trane was the perfect saxophonist for Monk’s music because of the space that Monk always used. Trane could fill up all that space with all them chords and sounds he was playing then.

Tom Jones is funny to me, man. I mean, he really tries to ape Ray Charles and Sammy Davis, you know. He’s nice-looking; he looks good doing it. I mean, if I was him, I’d do the same thing. If I was only thinking about making money.

I know what I’ve done for music, but don’t call me a legend. Just call me Miles Davis.

If you’re not nervous then you’re not paying attention.

Bebop didn’t have the humanity of Duke Ellington. It didn’t have that recognizable thing. Bird and Diz were great, fantastic, challenging – but that weren’t sweet.