Carla Bley

I write very slowly.

Listening is more important than anything else because that's what music is. Somebody is playing something and you're receiving it. It is sending and receiving.

When you are studying jazz, the best thing to do is listen to records or listen to live music. It isn't as though you go to a teacher. You just listen as much as you can and absorb everything.

Jokes are very curious things psychologically.

Political differences will always generate a healthy debate, but over time the dialogue has become more hateful and at times violent.

It's good to like yourself, and that only comes from hard work, from doing. But vanity is dangerous; it can trip you badly.