"Music is your own experience, your thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn." — Charlie Parker

"What is jazz? The rhythm — the feeling." — Coleman Hawkins

"The best sound usually comes the first time you do something. If it's spontaneous, it's going to be rough, not clean, but it's going to have the spirit which is the essence of jazz." — Dave Brubeck

Here, in their own words, such famous jazz musicians as Louis Armstrong, King Oliver, Fletcher Hender...