Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
Duke Ellington always had a style: original, clean with interesting color combinations. He had an artist's eye.
Because people really got tired, too, of the same old formatted sort of thing, and the same old formatted music.
Whenever there's a change with Jazz & its aesthetics, it's almost always reflected with a change in the culture.
I think that virtuosity is the first sign of morality in a musician. It means you're serious enough to practice.
Commercialism that has absolutely no relationship to quality whatsoever, only quantitative assessment of a thing.
Trumpet players see each other, and it's like we're getting ready to square off or get into a fight or something.
Many times you never know what's going to happen. You'll play songs that you never thought you were going to play.
My older brother and myself always played together in bands, but we never knew we would be professional musicians.
Ethics are more important than laws. Which means that the exact note is less important than the feeling of the note.
I got my first trumpet when I was six years old, from Al Hirt. My father was playing in Al Hirt's band at that time.
I believe in professionalism, but playing is not like a job. You have to be grateful to have the opportunity to play.
To rise above the crowd, you must discipline yourself unceasingly to the strict demand and realities of your ambition.
I don't think what I do is influenced by suffering. I come from a talented people who are prolific in music and dance.
Blues is like the roux in a gumbo. People ask me if jazz always has the blues in it. I say, if it sounds good it does.
I'm travelling more than ever. I don't have the answer as to why, but the demand seems to have grown as I've got older.
We just can't go and try to turn the clock back, that's not happening anymore. You've got to figure something else out.
This rebuilding of New Orleans gives us the perfect opportunity to see if we're ready to extend the legacy of Dr. King.
Dizzy used to tell me that I am playing too hard. He used to say to not give everything. Miles used to tell me that too.
You can establish a presence on the internet; you can have just as much of a presence as a major company or anyone else.
You don't know what love is, until you've learned the meaning of the blues, until you've loved a love you've had to lose.
Some stances are just conducive to swinging. If I stand up straight for too long it's harder to swing. Plus my feet hurt.
I want to see Nelson walking down the streets of South Africa; I want to see him walking hand-in-hand with Winnie Mandela.
You know when I was younger I used to look at Downbeat Magazine and I figured anybody in Downbeat must be making a living.
I don't think in terms of intervals; I think in terms of tonal color. I'm trying to play through as many keys as possible.
I always like to play very contemporary concepts of swing right next to New Orleans music because it highlights continuum.
My schedule is always tight. But I like to have the pressure of having to finish doing something; it gives me an added edge.
They always say that jazz doesn't sell, but it's a lie, because it does sell, and it sells consistently year in and year out.
There's only two ways to sum up music; either it's good or it's bad. If it's good you don't mess about it, you just enjoy it.
When I was 12, I began listening to John Coltrane and I developed a love for jazz, which I still have more and more each year.
There's the tradition in jazz of having the Battle of the Bands, and you do not want to get your head cut when you're playing.
There's the tradition in jazz of having the “Battle of the Bands” and you do not want to get your head cut when you're playing.
There are Two Secrets to Success: 1. Don't tell ANYONE Everything you know 2.If you have to ask what Jazz is, you'll never know.
People said I'd never make 35, then I'd never make 40, 45; now I'm almost 50, so Im beginning to think maybe they might be wrong.
And that's the soulful thing about playing: you offer something to somebody. You don't know if they'll like it, but you offer it.
Everything about the swing is about some guideline and some grid and the elegant way that you negotiate your way through that grid.
Young kids are always singing and painting. When you get to that second and third grade level, you're supposed to put all that aside.
Love is the spiritual essence of what we do. Technique is the manifestation of the preparation and investment as a result of the love.
Milk in a mother's breast-that's cool. Milk in a mouth-that's cool too. But milk in my trumpet? Not so cool. I have to play that thing.
The reason why the music [jazz] is important is because it's an art form-an ancient art form-that takes in the mythology of our people.
What I've been trying to do for years is to get the music played on a station other than jazz stations, you know, to expand the audience.
I almost never watch TV, except for '60 Minutes' and pro football. I love Drew Brees, the Manning brothers and the Steelers' linebackers.
When Bird came on the scene, it was just as shocking as in the Bible: everything was dark, and then the light appeared for the first time.
There was one thing Beethoven didn't do. When one of his string quartets was played, you can believe the second violin wasn't improvising.
I've got to where am in life not because of something I brought to the world but through something I found - the wealth of African culture.
In order to deal with the chaos that exists in the world today, you need some grounding. That grounding best comes from knowing who you are.
I think that when the education system started to be dismantled during the first Great Depression in the 1930s, we didn't recover from that.
In my opinion, Louis Armstrong is the greatest trumpet stylist of all time and has influenced every trumpet player of his time and long after
He was a very private person, but then, you know, he belonged to the whole United States. The United States thought they owned Johnny Carson.
I've got to where I am in life not because of something I brought to the world but through something I found - the wealth of African culture.
It seems to me that most people are impressed with just three things: how fast you can play, how high you can play, and how loud you can play.