"It's all about creation and surprise. It just needs to be appreciated and watered like flowers. You have to water flowers. These peaks will come again"
About this Quote
Creation and surprise are Sonny Rollins staking out jazz’s whole moral universe in two plain nouns. He’s talking about improvisation, yes, but also about an ethic: the music stays alive only when it risks the unknown. “Surprise” isn’t a party trick; it’s the proof that you’re listening hard enough in the moment to be changed by it. Coming from Rollins - a titan famous for taking choruses that feel like live problem-solving - the line reads like a quiet rebuke to the “greatest hits” version of artistry, where you calcify into your own legend.
Then he swerves into gardening talk, and the metaphor lands because it’s stubbornly unglamorous. Watering is routine, almost boring, the opposite of the myth that genius runs on inspiration alone. Rollins spent long stretches away from the spotlight (the bridge practice years became folklore), so “appreciated and watered” carries autobiography: attention and maintenance are not optional, even for a master. Appreciation here isn’t applause; it’s the disciplined kind of respect that shows up as practice, curiosity, and care for the instrument, the body, the ear.
“These peaks will come again” is the kicker, offering hope without promising permanence. He’s demystifying the high - the transcendent set, the perfect take - as something cyclical, earned, and revisitable. The subtext is generous but firm: don’t chase the peak like a drug. Tend the garden, and the bloom returns.
Then he swerves into gardening talk, and the metaphor lands because it’s stubbornly unglamorous. Watering is routine, almost boring, the opposite of the myth that genius runs on inspiration alone. Rollins spent long stretches away from the spotlight (the bridge practice years became folklore), so “appreciated and watered” carries autobiography: attention and maintenance are not optional, even for a master. Appreciation here isn’t applause; it’s the disciplined kind of respect that shows up as practice, curiosity, and care for the instrument, the body, the ear.
“These peaks will come again” is the kicker, offering hope without promising permanence. He’s demystifying the high - the transcendent set, the perfect take - as something cyclical, earned, and revisitable. The subtext is generous but firm: don’t chase the peak like a drug. Tend the garden, and the bloom returns.
Quote Details
| Topic | Art |
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