“I met Gary (Burton) at the Wichita Jazz Festival when I was 18 -- he was one of my favorite musicians and I got to play a few tunes with him there. Shortly after that, I joined his band, which was the equivalent of joining the Beatles for me! He was, and still is, one of the greatest musicians I have ever been lucky enough to be around.” StillsEnoughPlayMetsLuckyBandMusicianJazzMy FavoriteTunesFestivalsJoiningGaryGreatest Musician Author:Pat Metheny
“The amazing thing about Sweets [Edison] was that he exactly spoke the way that he played! He was really unique, the one and only. He was one of the greatest Blues players that I ever heard and played with. Nobody can play like Sweets man, nobody! Most of us, musicians, frequently quote Sweets' phrases in our solos. Like Lester Young, Sweets had a big influence on us musicians, especially when we play some Blues.” MenWayPlayBigsYoungPlayerHeardInfluenceSweetMusicianUniquePhrasesSpokesSoloAmazing ThingsLester Young Author:Ray Brown
“Our nights didn't begin until after noon. Because in the old days, you'd start Birdland at 8:30 or 9 pm and play until 4 in the morning. Then you'd go out to the corner and talk to a couple of musicians - I used to talk to Oscar Pettiford a whole lot - you'd stand there till 7, 8 or 9, or else go down to the jam session at Minton's.” PlayWholeUsedNightMorningCoupleMusicianCornersOscarsSessionJamOld DaysNoonPms Author:Charles Mingus
“I basically love classical music. I love a lot of musicians playing together and the whole culture of that whether it's Indian or it's Western. But in India, I think it's limited to filler music unfortunately. That's one thing I want to push in India where we have the infrastructure of an orchestra where you play Indian melodies with an orchestra and something different for a universal audience. It requires a lot of work from me.” ThinkingWantDifferentPlayWholeTogetherCultureAudienceOne ThingMusicianUniversalIndiaWesternIndianMelodyOrchestraInfrastructureClassical MusicFillersPlaying Together Author:A. R. Rahman
“The music is not part of this planet in a sense that the spirit of it is about happiness. Most musicians play earth things about what they know, but I found out that they are mostly unhappy and frustrated, and that creeps over into their music.” KnowsPlayEarthSpiritFoundPlanetsMusicianMusic IsUnhappyFrustratedCreeps Author:Sun Ra
“It's easy to play any musical instrument: all you have to do is touch the right key at the right time and the instrument will play itself.” PlayEasyMusicKeysMusicianInstrumentsJazzMusicalComposerRight TimeClassical MusicJazz MusicPlaying MusicJazz MusicianMusical InstrumentsFunny MusicIgnorance Is BlissFamous MusicianComposing MusicMusic PracticeMusic TheoryGuitar MusicClassical MusiciansInstrumental MusicPlaying Instruments Author:Johann Sebastian Bach
“What I try to do is produce an atmosphere where musicians want to invest in what they do and give to the recording. I hire those musicians who I know will play something creative and interesting.” KnowsWantGivingTryingPlayInterestingCreativeProduceMusicianAtmosphere Author:Herbie Mann
“I'm not a jazz musician, because, I mean, firstly, I can't play anything. I'm not bad on the tamborine. I have a certain way with the triangle. But I'm not a jazz musician ... my band, they always joke, they always say that I'm a disposable, pop, jazz superstar.” WayMeanI CanPlayCertainBandMusicianJokesJazzPopsJazz MusicSuperstarJazz MusicianDisposableTriangles Author:Michael Buble
“As I was a kid, I had a bunch of musicians, they always told me that I should listen to all styles of music and try to play all styles and be authentic at it, if I can, because you never know who's gonna call you. This was coming from fellow horn players who would get the call to play with different types of people. Since I was a kid, that was just something I was always interested in.” PeopleIfsKnowsShouldTryingI CanDifferentPlayKidsGrowing UpPlayerStyleTypeMusicianFellowsBunchHorns Author:Troy Andrews
“Bourbon Street is like playing, a tourist, you know? It's just a tourist attraction ... those musicians on Bourbon Street, they play all day. They might start at 12 noon and end at 3 in the morning, like, it's like sets, like a job. You go play, take a break, play again, take a break, then later on that night, the club gets busier, then you play some more. There's pride. They're a group of great musicians- and they're holding it down.” KnowsEndsPlayMightJobsNightBreakMorningGroupsStreetsPrideMusicianClubsAttractionNew OrleansTouristsNoonGreat MusicGreat MusicianBourbonBusierBourbon Street Author:Troy Andrews
“The concern of the musician is to play the music. It is there demanding to be given sound to.” PlayGivenSoundMusicianConcern Author:Robert Fripp
“I started out as a folk singer, and kinda got sidetracked playin' honky tonks and such, but I was always a working musician. I didn't want to be Townes Van Zandt or Guy Clark, but I wanted to play in front of their audiences, you know what I mean?” KnowsWantMeanPlayWantedGuyAudienceFrontsMusicianFolksSingersVansTonks Author:Ray Wylie Hubbard
“There's times I've been quite nervous doing session work, such as when I'm asked to play the violin in a 'country and western' style or a 'gypsy' style. I'm not very good at that sort of playing at all. I think it's important as a session musician to have your own voice.” ThinkingImportantCountryPlayVoiceStyleMusicianWesternVery GoodNervousSessionViolinGypsy Author:Ric Sanders
“Maybe not as an idol, but I have influenced some people, including my son Joshua. So that feels good. Wherever I play musicians come to meet me, that is a great compliment to me. I am honored.” PeopleFeelsPlaySonMusicianIncludingFeel GoodMy SonComplimentIdolsHonored Author:Dewey Redman
“Well, I've heard a lot of people, but I think I would say a Brazilian musician named Hermeto Pascoal was one of my biggest influences. Through the years he mastered the keyboards. He use to play the organ Hammond B3, flute, saxophone, percussion and guitar. He is one of the most complete musicians that I ever met. Not too long after we came to the United States, Airto Moreira introduced him to Miles Davis, who recorded three of Hermeto's compositions on his album "Live Evil.” PeopleThinkingYearsWellsLongStatesPlayUseThreeEvilUnitedUnited StatesHeardInfluenceMetsMusicianGuitarAlbumsMilesOrgansCompositionKeyboardsThrough The YearsSaxophoneFlutesPercussion Author:Flora Purim
“The music that I play is much more accepted in America. Do you know what I mean? Americans recognize and not necessarily country music. I go to a lot of places in Canada and they go "I don't like country music" and they think I'm a country musician. When I am a country musician but not a country musician like they think of.” ThinkingKnowsMeanCountryPlayAmericaMusicianAcceptedCanadaDo You Know Author:Fred Eaglesmith
“I have a theory that musicians recognize each other and if they are destined to collaborate together they will. Mainly, they recognize each other according to the class they belong to. If they are punk-rocker kids from the neighborhood, they are going form a band. If they happen to be musicians that are going to play in pubs and restaurants, they are going to recognize each other, form a band and play together. If it's about musicians that are playing jazz and are going to jazz festivals, for e.g., then they are going to meet and work together.” IfsPlayHappensKidsTogetherFormClassTheoryBandMusicianJazzRestaurantsNeighborhoodWorking TogetherPunkDestinedFestivalsPubsRockersPlaying Jazz Author:Vlatko Stefanovski
“When I hire musicians, I look for that first: every time they sit down do they go for it, you know? And do they try to learn the music and try to get inside the song whatever the tune is? Whether it's my originals or someone else's, it's just whether or not they're gonna play their hearts out, first and foremost.” KnowsTryingFirstsLooksHeartPlaySongMusicianOriginalsTunes Author:Mike Stern
“I had a chance to play with the best musicians that were coming through because I was pretty good myself or else they wouldn't have tolerated with me.” PlayChanceMusician Author:Louis Armstrong
“I don't understand how a musician can play 90 minutes on stage and then not dedicate a little bit of time to hang out at their merch table. It's not like digging a ditch or something; you're standing there thanking people for coming out to see you.” PeopleLittlesPlayBitsMinutesStageLittle BitMusicianStandingTablesHanging OutComing OutDiggingStanding There Author:Aaron Watson
“I regard myself as a true American musician, and I play every style that is my heritage.” PlayStyleMusicianRegardHeritage Author:Michelle Shocked
“By the year 2000, I want to be the first Latin musician to play on the moon.” WantYearsFirstsPlayMoonMusicianLatin Author:Tito Puente
“Rock stars come and go. Musicians play until they die.” PlayDiesStarsRocksMusicianRock StarComes And Goes Author:Eddie Van Halen
“Books are frozen voices, in the same way that musical scores are frozen music. The score is a way of transmitting the music to someone who can play it, releasing it into the air where it can once more be heard. And the black alphabet marks on the page represent words that were once spoken, if only in the writer's head. They lie there inert until a reader comes along and transforms the letters into living sounds. The reader is the musician of the book: each reader may read the same text, just as each violinist plays the same piece, but each interpretation is different.” IfsWayMayBookDifferentPlayLyingSoundBlackVoicePiecesHeardAirReaderMusicianPagesLettersMarkMusicalScoreInterpretationFrozenAlphabetViolinist Author:Margaret Atwood
“We have to focus on his early work, and just one or two of his movies, and elements of his TV shows, to keep his memory pure. People now know that Elvis could play a mean rhythm guitar himself, and needed no other musicians to perform a great song. But Elvis was not just a rock star, he was an all-round entertainer.” PeopleKnowsMeanTwoPlayShowsSongStarsMemoriesFocusRocksTvsNeededPureElementsMusicianGuitarRoundsRhythmJust OneTv ShowsRock StarEntertainersEarly Work Author:Pete Townshend
“There are so many musicians, friends of mine, who play shows for ten people a night, or always desperately wanted a record contract. So even if every person on the planet loathes me, I have nothing to complain about. My job is not a bad job, so I can't complain.” PeopleIfsPersonsI CanPlayShowsWantedJobsNightRecordsMinesPlanetsTenMusicianComplainingContractsLoatheBad Jobs Author:Moby
“I was a lusty kid who loved Tennessee Williams. Sexy plays. [For musicians] there are so many that it's hard just to say one. Certain things, like the first time you hear A Love Supreme, you're floored. It takes whatever you were listening to and blows a hole in it.” FirstsHardPlayKidsCertainListeningMusicianFirst TimeBlowSexySupremeHolesTennessee Author:Annie E. Clark
“I don't have to compete in the charts. I can just be myself as a musician, a songwriter and play with the musicians that I really love.” I CanPlayMusicianSongwriters Author:Elton John
“Usually, I think it's best to play the song for them once and have them mix it up on the spot, because when the logical mind gets too involved, I think it kills a lot of magic. I just think the subconscious mind is so much smarter, and unfortunately, people do not trust their subconscious. A lot of people just don't access to all of that, the secret genius that's inside of them. And it's so much easier to get it out of a musician if you don't give them a chance to overthink.” PeopleIfsThinkingGivingMindPlaySongChanceSecretMagicGeniusInvolvedEasierMusicianAccessSpotsLogicalSmarterSubconsciousSubconscious Mind Author:Larkin Grimm
“I just know of so many musicians who burn out because they go on tour and they have to play their one-hit song over and over and over and over again. And they are not moved by their own song. And then when you go and see them perform there's something off.” KnowsPlaySongGoes OnMusicianMovedBurn Out Author:Larkin Grimm
“So Nemerov showed us this picture, which is of Apollo flaying Marcius. You don't think of Apollo as being the sort of person who would skin someone alive. But the story behind it was that there was this guy who was a really great musician, and all the women loved him, and people started saying he was the best musician in the world, so Apollo got jealous and he challenged this guy to a musical dual. They would each play a song and the muses would judge who was the better musician.” PeopleThinkingWorldPersonsPlayStoriesGuySongBehindsAliveJudgingMusicianSkinsMusicalJealousMuseReally GreatThis GuyApolloGreat MusicGreat Musician Author:Larkin Grimm
“I know some people really try to avoid music when they're writing and recording, but I am very inspired by so many different musicians, and I need to learn. I sit around and try to play along to certain songs that I really love. It helps you explore new territory. I don't think I listen to enough.” PeopleThinkingKnowsNeedsWritingTryingDifferentEnoughPlayHelpingCertainSongMusicianInspiredTerritoryNew TerritoryVery Inspired Author:Devendra Banhart
“It was more about getting together with other musicians and playing live. I needed to suss out a full set [for the Last Summer tour], and I didn't want to play Fiery Furnaces material. So half of our set was new songs that we ended up recording for this album. And that made such a huge difference - going into the studio after playing a song for two years, knowing it inside-out and having sung it millions of times, and then recording it is a totally satisfying experience. You're suddenly in this controlled environment and you can make it sound exactly as you've been imagining it.” WantYearsMadeTwoPlayTogetherLastsSongSoundDifferencesHalfMillionsKnowingEnvironmentMaterialsHugeNeededSummerMusicianAlbumsStudiosTwo YearsControlledSatisfyingFieryFurnacesNew SongsLast Summer Author:Eleanor Friedberger
“It's just a joy to be able to work with a lot of different musicians. When you play with great musicians, whether they're schooled or self-taught, they keep you on your toes.” DifferentSelfPlayAbleJoyTaughtMusicianToesGreat MusicSchooledGreat MusicianSelf Taught Author:Cass McCombs
“I still have a hard time just calling myself a musician. If I'm talking to somebody and they ask me what I do, I say I play music.” IfsStillsHardPlayAsksTalkingCallingMusicianAsk MeHard Times Author:Grant Evans
“I don't really have any "must work withs," but I would never refuse if a celebrity or fellow musician came along who is willing to write or sing or play on a Lita song.” IfsWritingPlaySongWillingMusicianFellowsRefuse Author:Lita Ford
“I started thinking, my gosh, all this sophisticated software for measuring how Yo-Yo plays, and how he moves and this technique of the bow, I should be able to use similar techniques for measuring the way anybody moves, and so somebody who is not a professional or a trained musician, I should be able to make a musical environment for them.” ThinkingWayShouldPlayUseAbleMovingEnvironmentMusicianMusicalTechniqueSoftwareBowsSophisticatedMeasuring Author:Tod Machover
“I like the idea of being a student, and I play with very good musicians. So playing with them allows me to get better. My aim is to get better, but I really love it for its own sake.” IdeasPlayStudentsMusicianAimVery GoodSakeGet Better Author:Jeff Goldblum
“I play classical music almost exclusively. I never mastered jazz or gospel in the way that my mother did. She was a fine improvisational musician. I pretty much have to stick to what's written on the page.” WayPlayMotherWrittenFineMusicianPagesSticksJazzClassical Music Author:Condoleezza Rice
“I've speculated about what my life might have been like as a musician, but I'm afraid I came to the conclusion that I probably would've either been teaching piano or maybe gotten to play at Nordstrom's department store.” Has BeensPlayMightTeachingMusicianStoresConclusionPianoDepartmentMight Have BeenDepartment StoresNordstrom Author:Condoleezza Rice
“If an ensemble - I don't care if it's a duet or a forty-piece orchestra - the musicians, the two of them or the forty of them, are all trying to play as tight as possible, as one person. They're trying to play like they are one person.” IfsTryingPersonsTwoPlayCarePiecesMusicianDon't CareI Don't CareFortyOrchestraEnsembleDuets Author:John Densmore
“I saw so many amazing musicians struggling to build something good. They would play and play... and play some more, but it seemed like there was something missing. I wanted to go someplace higher myself, and go there with the people who come to hear me play. So I began to envision events with their own gravity, that would pull a community of people together for a meaningful experience.” PeoplePlayWantedTogetherCommunityStruggleSawsMissingEventsHigherMusicianMeaningfulGravity Author:Dave Madden
“Freddie [Highmore] is great in the movie [August Rush]. It comes out this Fall and I play a young cellist, a prodigy, who is touring and doing concerts. She's very young and has a one-night fling with an Irish rocker, played Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who is also a really talented musician.” PlayYoungNightFallMusicianConcertsTouringOne NightAugustFlingProdigiesRockersCellistsTalented Musicians Author:Keri Russell
“We're [with Robbie Robertson ] jazz musicians. The context may be rock 'n' roll but it's still jazz. It's jazz and that means improvization...you play a tune the way it feels and you play it differently every time. It can never be the same.” WayFeelsMayMeanStillsPlayRocksMusicianJazzTunesRock N RollJazz MusicJazz Musician Author:Van Morrison
“I don't think I'm even a musician. I don't play a lot of instruments, not really a soloist or anything.” ThinkingPlayMusicianInstruments Author:Cass McCombs
“In the end it is the musician who actually plays the notes. The impresario - or the project leader - is only there to make sure that happens. That is a very different type of management mind-set.” MindDifferentEndsPlayHappensLeaderTypeProjectsMusicianManagementNotesMind Set Author:John Kao
“Even though I was performing all the time as an actress and I was doing all of these plays as a kid, there's a vulnerability about being a musician that you don't get [when] you perform somebody else's work.” PlayKidsMusicianActressesPerformingVulnerability Author:Lola Kirke
“So far I've been very, very fortunate because it appears that people like to hear the music I like to play. What more fortunate position can a musician be in?” PeoplePlayPositionMusicianFortunate Author:Jimmy Page
“I recognize that as a musician there is a certain chauvinism attached to it, which is the thing of, "I spent my time learning how to play. You didn't spend time learning how to play, therefore, you are not a musician."” PlayCertainMusicianMy TimeEnd TimesSpend TimeChauvinism Author:Jerry Garcia
“Music is a universal language insofar as you don't need to know anything else about a musician that you are playing with other than that they can play music. It doesn't matter what their music is, you can find something that you can play together, with what their culture is. The dialect part of it comes into play, but nothing like the differentiation that language sets up, for example.” KnowsNeedsMatterPlayTogetherCultureLanguageExampleMusicianMusic IsUniversalDialectUniversal LanguageDifferentiation Author:Jerry Garcia