67 Quotes by Steve Lacy

When I first started playing music in 1955, there was just a small body of people that knew it. It was a very esoteric type of thing.

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

People don't want to suffer. They want to sound good immediately, and this is one of the biggest problems in the world.

In composition you have all the time you want to decide what to say in 15 seconds, in improvisation you have 15 seconds.

Jazz is like wine. When it is new it's only for the experts, but when it gets older everybody wants it.

I still love the whole history of Jazz. The old things sound better than ever.

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

When I found the music of Monk I finally found music that fit that horn. Every one of his tunes fit it perfectly.

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