Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
Music is closer to poetry than anything.
Only in spontaneity can we be who we truly are.
I have a great affection for Indian culture and music.
If I had to live on record sales, I'd be pushing up the daisies.
Every day, I discover something utterly unbelievable when I play.
When I hear a great musician, I can feel his life inside the music.
To pay attention to flattery or criticism is a waste of time for artists.
You realize as you get older that tomorrow is not guaranteed for anybody.
Miles Davis himself, I discovered him when I was 15, and he rocked my world.
Spirituality is worthless if it's not practical. Music is my work. I am a musician.
I believe everybody is spiritual and no one is any more spiritual than anyone else.
I never read comics growing up. I didn't have money and I don't like to touch paper.
I'm not the sort of chap who can sit down and write music. When it comes, I'm happy.
The mathematics of rhythm are universal. They don't belong to any particular culture.
There are two kinds of success. One is musical or artistic and the other is commercial.
I have a profound affection for Buddhism, and Zen Buddhism's particular ways of meditating.
The music dictates to me which instrument I use. I'm basically waiting for orders as it were.
Interplay and interaction are the integral parts of music - they're as important as the notes.
I don't have any message in the music. Music will be fine as long as you take care of yourself.
Music speaks from spirit to spirit and in that sense you could call it a true spiritual language.
Music that touches the transcendental aspect of a human being is reserved for a marginal audience
In a way records are like paintings. Instead of using paints and brushes we use sounds and instruments.
The guitar l learned on was probably worth $4 or something, but it was priceless to me. It meant so much.
When I was five, I heard the end of Beethoven's 'Ninth Symphony' with my mother, and I got goosebumps all over my body.
When Mahavishnu came out in '71, the unbelievable reaction to the band was a real shock to me. It was a shock to everybody.
One of the advantages of playing in a club is that even with bass and drums, the atmosphere remains intimate with the audience.
Frankly speaking, if I care what people write, whether it is positive or negative, I believe, personally, I'm on the wrong path.
In my opinion, there is one singular problem with religions in general: they are exclusive. To me, this exclusivity is not right.
When the music arrives in my mind, it gives me the direction and the form at the same time. It's integrated into the music itself.
When you open box after box of old comics and they're ALL "Archie," you have suffered a trauma from which it is difficult to ever recover.
Everyone can lock into the rhythm on a tune. It's organic in nature. It connects the band as a whole and connects the band to the audience.
The Mahavishnu Orchestra - when it came out, it was an explosion, completely unexpected as far as I was concerned. I was just forming a band.
I'm not a classical player. I don't want to be a classical player. I love to improvise, because things happen that never happen anywhere else.
The moment you start to talk about playing music, you destroy music. It cannot be talked about. It can only be played, enjoyed and listened to.
I've been more or less vegetarian for about 40 years. Health diet really helps. I do meditation every day, and either yoga or sport several times a week.
The first LP, 'Inner Mounting Flame,' is, of course, one of my favorites, and also 'Visions of the Emerald Beyond.' But the others are also very dear to me.
I just want to keep exploring music and hopefully the orders will keep coming in and I'll be able to keep growing the interior and exterior sides of my life.
I discovered flamenco when I was 14, before I even got involved with jazz music. I was so crazy about flamenco music. I wanted to be a flamenco guitar player.
At the risk of sounding hopelessly romantic, love is the key element. I really love to play with different musicians who come from different cultural backgrounds.
I practice all the scales. Everyone should know lots of scales. Actually, I feel there are only scales. What is a chord, if not the notes of a scale hooked together?
I already experimented with free jazz in the 1960s and, in my opinion, to play free jazz, you have to be a perfect musician and a perfect human being - and none of us are!
I've been studying the cultures of Asia for many years, and I'm very attracted to the culture of Japan, in particular to the impact Zen has had on the Japanese mind and spirit.
I'm never trying to preach to anybody with my music, but I'm aware of the universal nature of the human experience and I try to reach out and connect with people in that manner.
I don't have any particular goals in making a recording. In a way the recording is itself the goal. The music comes into my mind, and from there the main job is to give form to it.
I'm not any different from you or the guy down the street or across the globe, we're all connected in some way and hopefully my music can integrate that feeling of human connectedness.
My entire life is dedicated to music, and at my age, that makes a lot of years! But all the work and dedication is only that I'm able to forget myself and let the music do the 'talking.'
The whole point of working and practicing your whole life is so that you're ready when that moment arrives; when the inspiration arrives, you are ready to be at the disposal of inspiration.
For me, rhythm is a type of divine mathematics in a way. No matter where you're from, we can all understand the mathematics of rhythm. I try to apply this mathematical thinking to my playing.
There is really no spiritual message that I'm trying to convey with my music, it's just a personal thing. I really believe that the more personal we get, in a way, the more universal the implications.
I was dealing with a lot of spiritual questions like "Who am I?" "What is God" "What is the meaning of life?" All of these questions that I think we can either face head on or choose to ignore, it's up to us.