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Quote by Wynton Marsalis

“If you didn't have the amalgam of Blacks and African-type sensibility and European sensibility, you wouldn't have jazz. Even in the negative and in the positive ways - if there was no slavery and the abolition of slavery, there would be no jazz.”

Quote by Wynton Marsalis

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Wynton Marsalis

Wynton Marsalis is an American trumpeter, composer, and bandleader. Born on October 18, 1961, he has made significant contributions to the field of jazz music. Marsalis has won numerous awards, including nine Grammy Awards, and has been a leading figure in the jazz community. more

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“The musicians, Duke Ellington, his thing was not about separating himself from the rest of America. Louis Armstrong - go to the forefathers of our music - Jelly Roll Morton - they're not preaching a separatist agenda. They're not taking their music and saying, "This is for me."”

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“When I say "our," I definitely mean all of America. It's not less pertinent for you because it comes from a Black person, just like a great achievement by an Anglo American is less important.”

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“For me as a person who's in the arts and as someone who understands the magnitude of our contributions and the price that was paid to contribute to that, that we just have not gotten that together. I will do all that I can to get in front of our kids, to try to teach them, but at a certain point the people have to want it and come towards it.”

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