Oscar Peterson

Some people try to get very philosophical and cerebral about what they're trying to say with jazz. You don't need any prologues, you just play.

You not only have to know your own instrument, you must know the others and how to back them up at all times. That's jazz.

We're not like pop musicians who have to perform the same top ten tunes every night of a tour.

The blessing that this film business has given me is that when I walk into a school I automatically have everyone's attention. They want to hear what the guy from 'Con Air' and 'Desperado' has to say.

The Detroit String Quartet played Brahms last night. Brahms lost.

I appreciate men like Ben Webster and Coleman Hawkins very much.