As the Editor of Metronome Magazine from 1935 until 1955, the late George T. Simon interviewed literally hundreds of jazz greats. The following quotes are from his interviews in that publication, which he re-published in his book, "Simon Says: The Sights and Sounds of the Swing Era 1935-1955". Arlington House; New Rochelle, New York. 1971.
"The thing to consider when judging a musician is not what you think of the type of music he is playing, but rather how well he is playing whatever type he is attempting to play. One thing that I don't think many of the young musicians give the older jazz musicians credit for is the fact that they were the ones who conceived things, and they didn't just listen to a lot of records and copy and perhaps make a few changes."
-Gene Krupa, 1954
"It was a funny thing with Benny. You know what he told me? He said: "You don't have to bother reading the arrangements. You've been listening to my records for five years!" I lasted exactly four days."
-Shelly Manne, April 1949
"I don't think I ever told anybody this before, but the reason I started on my own when I did was because I wanted to make sure I got there as a single before Bob Eberly did. I knew that if that guy ever did it first, I'd never be able to make it the way I did. That Eberly, he sang so rich and so pure, it used to frighten me. Even today, guys who sing in his fashion can't even sit in the same room with him. That guy has always been too much, and I knew he'd be too much for me if he ever got started on his own before I did."
-Frank Sinatra, December 1953
"I never studied. I just experimented arranging. You learn most harmonics by experience. You fool around and listen. Most chord structure is practically arithmetic, anyway. You just have to use common sense."
-Thelonious Monk, February 1948
"Armstrong is the daddy of them all. Everybody's playing his stuff, and until a greater creator comes along, that's the way it'll be- for me, anyway."
-Harry James, August 1941.
As I left a rehearsal studio in New York, in walked Lionel Hampton. We chatted for a few minutes in the hallway. He radiated a friendly energy, and seemed interested that I was a drummer who led a big band.
