“My dad was all about music. He was a musician, leading a band when I was born. His band was active all through the 40s. He'd started it in the late 20s and 30s. According to the scrapbook, his band was doing quite well around the Boston area. During the Depression they were on radio. It was a jazz-oriented band. He was a trumpet player, and he wrote and arranged for the band. He taught me how to play the piano and read music, and taught me what he knew of standard tunes and so forth. It was a fantastic way to come up in music.” WayWellsPlayBornPlayerTaughtDadBandLateMusicianStandardsAreasJazzMy DadCome UpRadioActiveFantasticPianoTunesBostonTrumpets Author:Chick Corea
“Strangely enough, through all those school years I decided at 13 or 14 I was going to be a musician and so school was just something to get out of the way, a waste of time and not to bother with it.” WayYearsEnoughSchoolWasteMusicianDecidedBotherWasting TimeSchool Years Author:Alvin Lee
“You'll find little schools of musicians experimenting with different ways of making music in Brooklyn, all through Manhattan, in Queens, in Jersey, you know? The city is still bubbling with creativity.” KnowsWayLittlesStillsDifferentSchoolCitiesCreativityMusicianQueensDifferent WaysJerseyBrooklynManhattan Author:Chick Corea
“The internet has a way of mainstreaming everything. Any artist, any musician, any sexual kink, any political view point, it's all there.” WayPoliticalArtistViewsInternetMusicianPolitical ViewKink Author:Arthur Jones
“When Indian musicians play a raga it's very restrictive. But, in a way these restraints are essential to liberate yourself through them, if that makes sense. I'm very much of this school of rhythm, it's the direction I'm drawn in when I'm writing and improvising.” IfsWayWritingPlaySchoolEssentialsMusicianRhythmIndianMake SenseRestraintImprovising Author:John McLaughlin
“I don't remember things initially when listening to music. Like, I don't remember where I first heard a song, I don't have nostalgic attachment to a song in that it reminds me of such and such a time or place. I think I probably did experience that somewhat when I was not a full-time, professional musician, but I don't think music works that way for people who are in it constantly.” PeopleThinkingWayFirstsRememberSongHeardListeningMusicianAttachmentListening To MusicNostalgic Author:Stephin Merritt
“When I came to New York, to Brooklyn, I met Alvin Ailey and Stanley Crouch and August Wilson. They were always putting things in a philosophical context. All the great jazz musicians did, too. There was always a sub-context to what they were saying about music even though they would be very down home and earthy. So I started to develop, in addition to my power and ability to simply hear, a way to place myself in a time.” WayHomeWould BeAbilityNew YorkMetsMusicianPhilosophicalJazzJazz MusicBrooklynAugustWilsonStanleyJazz Musician Author:Wynton Marsalis
“Artists, whether they're classical musicians or pop musicians, they have always been the reflection of society, and in many ways a healing part of whatever is wrong in society, and I think it's important for us to continue to do that, and I don't see enough of it today.” ThinkingWayImportantEnoughTodayArtistHealingMusicianReflectionPopsClassical MusicPop MusicClassical Musicians Author:George Duke
“The jazz guitarist Peter Sprague calls his home recording studio SpragueLand, but sometimes it seems that the moniker better captures the way he has turned the entire southland into his own musical playground. Sprague is a highly versatile musician who draws on the wellsprings of jazz and Brazilian music as primary influences.” WaySometimesHomeSeemsInfluenceMusicianDrawsJazzMusicalStudiosPrimariesCapturePeterGuitaristPlaygroundsVersatileRecording StudioWellspringBrazilian Music Author:Andrew S. Gilbert
“One good thing about a good book or a good film, or maybe even a song, I'm not a musician but I love to listen to music, is the range that each piece is able to give you. Like 'Bohemian Rhapsody' by Queen, 1975, that song is so epic. It goes in so many different places, it's and opera and it is heavy metal, and it's so crazy as it goes every which way. I kind of like films like that.” WayGivingKindBookDifferentAbleFilmSongPiecesCrazyMusicianMusic IsGood ThingsHeavyRangeQueensMetalsOperaEpicListening To MusicGood BookDifferent PlaceHeavy MetalGood FilmsBohemianBohemian Rhapsody Author:Kleber Mendonca Filho
“We have oral traditions in Mali, and songs are passed down and around this way. I think in the US you can play all the time in your own room and never see another musician your whole life. We can't understand that in Mali.” ThinkingWayPlayWholeSongRoomsMusicianTraditionDown AndWhole LifeOral TraditionMali Author:Vieux Farka Toure
“It's hard to put into words the impact of the perfect lyric, melody or contagious beat that moves you in an unexpected way. Authors, composers and artists have tried - and here we've rounded up our favorite quotes that help to begin forming structure around such an unspoken universal force. Which are most meaningful to you? If you had to sum up the power of music and sound in one sentence, what would you say?"A painter paints pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence."” IfsWayHardHelpingMovingArtistForceSoundPerfectSilenceMusicianBeatsUniversalImpactStructurePaintSentencesMeaningfulPainterUnexpectedMelodyComposerCanvasContagiousUnspokenPower Of MusicOne SentenceMost Meaningful Author:Leopold Stokowski
“As a composer you want to tell musicians two completely contradictory things. You want to say, "Play exactly what I wrote, but bring your own thing to it." In a lot of ways they feel like opposites, but in a sense, my job is to cajole or encourage decisions that I approve of.” WayWantFeelsTwoPlayJobsDecisionMusicianOppositesComposerContradictory Author:Nico Muhly
“Touring is my favorite part of being a musician. All the places I've traveled and lived affect me in many different ways. Good and bad.” WayDifferentMusicianMy FavoriteDifferent WaysTraveledGood And BadTouring Author:Elle King
“I've had a very different career than a lot of other musicians. I went through the major labels. I was signed to two major labels and bands. I've toured with Aerosmith, and I've had records on the charts, songs in the movies. If you had checklist of things a person wants to accomplish in music...I've done a lot. And I don't mean that in an egotistical way; I never take it for granted. But you can't think outside the box unless you know what's in the box.” IfsThinkingKnowsWayWantMeanPersonsTwoDifferentDoneSongCareersRecordsBandMajorsMusicianBoxesAccomplishGrantedLabelsEgotisticalOutside The BoxThink Outside The BoxChecklistsAerosmith Author:Michael Angelo Batio
“I get so much from having the opportunity to interface with the younger people and to bring information to them and to represent our culture and our way of life. The feeling and the warmth and the love, it's unbelievable. The type of exchange that goes on between students and teachers or visiting people who are doing master classes, and not just when they're musicians. Even general classes, when the students are not necessarily musicians.” PeopleWayFeelingsCultureOpportunityClassTeacherInformationStudentsMastersTypeGoes OnMusicianWarmthUnbelievableVisitingInterfacesTeacher And Student Author:Wynton Marsalis
“Reading and writing music is a wonderful way of getting ideas in your head down to someone else who reads and writes, but if you don't read and write, and the other musician you're playing with are trying to express something who doesn't read and write, than it's a question of "I wrote" so that you must learn from listening and from understanding where that's coming from.” IfsWayWritingTryingIdeasReadingUnderstandingWonderfulListeningMusicianMusic IsReading And WritingWriting Music Author:Ronnie Montrose
“I didn't know if it would be a successful one, or what the stages would be, but I always saw myself as a lifetime musician and songwriter...I was always concerned with writing to my age at a particular moment. That was the way I would keep faith with the audience that supported me as I went along...I'm a synthesist. I'm always making music. And I make a lot of different kinds of music all the time. Some of it gets finished and some of it doesn't...The best music is essentially there to provide you something to face the world with.” IfsKnowsWorldWayWritingKindDifferentMomentsWould BeAgeFacesAudienceSuccessfulSawsStageParticularMusicianMusic IsConcernedLifetimeFinishedDifferent KindsSongwritersKeep The FaithDifferent Kinds Of Music Author:Bruce Springsteen
“One of the most obvious aspects of the music to people who know jazz is: How does it feel in the swing? These are things that are very subtle and that jazz musician appreciate in a particular way. I appreciate the way Tommy Flanagan swings, the way that Barry Harris swings, the great pulse that Hank Jones and Bill Evans have - end every one of them is different.” PeopleKnowsWayFeelsDoeDifferentEndsParticularMusicianAspectAppreciateBillsJazzObviousSubtleSwingsPulseJazz MusicJazz Musician Author:Chuck Israels
“I have always loved jazz music and as a teen growing up in New York City and then later on as an adult have great memories of the jazz clubs that were all located on 52nd Street. I still catch as many jazz shows as I can when I am in New York. And when I perform, I have my jazz quartet by my side. Jazz musicians keep things spontaneous and very "live," which is the way I like to perform.” WayStillsI CanShowsSidesMemoriesCitiesGrowing UpGrowingStreetsNew YorkMusicianAdultsJazzClubsNew York CitySpontaneousJazz MusicJazz MusicianQuartetsGreat Memories Author:Tony Bennett
“Being an artist and a musician, I have witnessed the previous generation taking the art form, not as a way of making a living, but as a belief, an almost maniacal, sometimes insane devotion and commitment to communication.” WayArtSometimesFormArtistBeliefGenerationsCommunicationMusicianCommitmentDevotionInsaneBeing An ArtistMaking A LivingPrevious Generations Author:David Finckel
“I would say that for the younger musicians, technical proficiency is necessary and a given these days. But the study and the way you function in society, your beliefs and the way you live, that is where you will find a real musician, a real artist.” WayRealArtistBeliefGivenStudyMusicianFunctionThese DaysProficiencyReal Artists Author:David Finckel
“Most true musicians don't do it for the money, they do it because they love it. When I did slam poetry, it was a great way for me to express myself, I loved it.” WayMusicianSlam Author:Jake Holmes
“When I look at how fortunate I've been, being a musician... my response to being overpaid is that I should pay it back to my community in some way.” WayShouldLooksCommunityPayMusicianResponseFortunate Author:Dave Matthews
“As comedians, we have the opportunity to convey a message that will have an effect. The best can make you laugh and cry, the way musicians and actors can.” WayActorsOpportunityLaughingEffectsCryMessagesMusicianComedianMake You Laugh Author:Jay Pharoah
“I don't know where I would be without music. Even if I wasn't a musician, I think music is God. In a lot of ways, it's my saving grave. It's been my religion since I was a little kid.” IfsThinkingKnowsWayLittlesWould BeKidsMusicianMusic IsGravesSavingLittle KidWithout Music Author:Allie Gonino
“When I write stuff that's provocative, I want people to think about that, too. I'm in between a pop musician and an artist in that way. I want people to be part of the music as they listen, but I also want them to think: What was that?” PeopleThinkingWayWantWritingArtistStuffMusicianPopsPop MusicProvocative Author:Jenny Hval
“Essentially, the popular musician in America must learn that his basic job is to entertain people, to make them forget their sorrows for a moment or two; in the same sense that any popular art form must aim at the same distraction value. Any such job as that is basically a young man's business. It takes a young man's energy to go traveling around the country, night after night in a different place, prancing and cavorting around in front of mobs of people all out to try to forget their problems for an evening. And for a young man it can be a good enough way of life, if he happens to like it.” PeopleIfsMenWayTryingArtTwoDifferentCountryEnoughMomentsProblemHappensJobsAmericaFormYoungNightValuesEnergyForgetFrontsSorrowMusicianAimEveningYoung ManGood EnoughDistractionDifferent PlacePopular MusicPrancing Author:Artie Shaw
“I don't know if One Direction will stand the test of time. I have a niece who goes crazy for them. But the only way to judge art is to wait and see if it becomes evergreen. This takes a bit of time. Adele is a very good musician and I'd like to sing with her. But, again, time will tell if her music will become evergreen.” IfsKnowsWayArtBitsWaitingCrazyJudgingMusicianArt IsTestsVery GoodOne DirectionNieceTest Of TimeEvergreensTime Will Tell Author:Andrea Bocelli
“I didn't want my records to sound like anybody else, and when I've got my guys in the studio, I have a language with those guys because we work together every day. A lot of times, you bring in outside guys, studio players, whatever, and they're great musicians. It's just that they don't necessarily play the way I want it to be played.” WayWantPlayTogetherGuyLanguageSoundRecordsPlayerMusicianStudiosWorking TogetherGreat MusicGreat Musician Author:Jason Aldean
“It is the individual voice, present to itself, that needs to be heard. We need to hear the process of the musician working on himself. We don't need to hear who is more clever with synthesizers. Our cleverness has created the world we live in, which in many ways, we're sorry about.” WorldWayNeedsIndividualProcessVoiceHeardMusicianSorryCleverClevernessSynthesizers Author:Keith Jarrett
“They sign a bunch of women, and they call it a movement. I don't like the way women in music have been identified as women first and musicians second.” WayFirstsHas BeensMovementMusicianBunch Author:Michelle Shocked
“I did exactly what I wanted to do. It was always my intention to put a band together and be a band and not be about the solo pop guy. That was never me. All of the musicians that made me do what I wanted to do were bands. I didn't see it any other way.” WayMadeWantedTogetherGuyBandMusicianIntentionPopsSolo Author:Chris Daughtry
“I think music piracy is forcing many people to look at the live aspect of the record industry as an income and in many ways that's what sets apart good music and musicians from the fly by night pop sensations.” PeopleThinkingWayLooksNightRecordsIndustryMusicianAspectPopsIncomeSensationsPiracy Author:Ben Howard
“People feel they have to live that stereotypical lifestyle in order to be a rock star. You don't have to shoot heroin and act a certain way to be a rock and roll musician.” PeopleWayFeelsCertainOrderStarsRocksMusicianLifestyleRock And RollRock StarHeroin Author:Lenny Kravitz
“From the small clubs of the Harlem Renaissance where he began playing saxophone to world tours for the biggest of the big bands, Benny Carter redefined American jazz. From the start, his fellow musicians said the way he played the sax was amazing. They say that about me, too. (Laughter.) But I don't think they mean it in quite the same way.” ThinkingWorldWayMeanSaidBigsBandMusicianLaughterFellowsJazzClubsRenaissanceCarterSaxophoneHarlemHarlem Renaissance Author:William J. Clinton
“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
“I was worried that I didn't have as many Facebook 'likes' as another musician. You can almost feel like a failure if you aren't building your fame in that way.” IfsWayFeelsBuildingFameMusicianLikesWorried Author:Erika M. Anderson
“Of course we've lost so many superstars who've made jazz what it is. We've lost so many musicians who created new things and changed the way we think about music and who took jazz to a new level. So jazz is suffering from that. But we still have a lot of incredible people playing jazz in the world. We have a lot of people leading the way.” PeopleThinkingWorldWayMadeStillsSufferingCoursesLostChangeLevelsMusicChangedCreatingMusicianJazzIncrediblesNew ThingsSuperstarPlaying JazzLeading The WayCreating New Things Author:George Benson
“Doubt always hovers nearby, but I take photographs the way a musician hums. Looking is like breathing. So when luck turns my way and offers me a good picture, joy is surely nigh.” WayJoyTurnsDoubtOffersMusicianLuckPhotographMy WayBreathing Author:Marc Riboud
“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
“I don't really have a career as a jazz musician. I don't really have a career as a classical musician. I don't really have a career as a college professor, and yet I did all those things and I did them well. I put out some records in the 1980's and 1990's that changed the way some trumpet players played.” WayWellsCareersRecordsPlayerChangedCollegeMusicianJazzProfessorsClassical MusicJazz MusicTrumpetsJazz MusicianClassical MusiciansCollege Professors Author:Paul Smoker
“The way so many musicians slavishly imitated Coltrane, that's the way it was with Charlie Parker - only even more so, if that can be imagined. Everyone that I knew changed totally. But they took the worst things of his playing-that harsh sound; it just didn't come off the way they did it. The way he did it was great, Their way wasn't good at all. I just would listen to 'em, say: 'That's a Bird imitator', and that would be it; I would never care to listen to them again.” IfsWayWould BeCareSoundWorstChangedMusicianBirdEmsHarshWorst ThingsCharlieImitatorColtrane Author:Art Pepper
“What's always struck me is how different the sensory, especially auditory, experience is when you're in the middle of the music with the musicians playing off each other around you. I wanted to find a way to unlock the intensity of that, to recreate that unique perspective, first for the hundreds of people who attended the concert, and eventually for a much larger online audience.” PeopleWayFirstsDifferentWantedAudienceMiddlePerspectiveMusicianUniqueOnlineConcertsIntensitySensoryAuditoryUnique Perspective Author:Chris Milk
“I'm not in it for my health. I'm a musician and I wanna live the way I do.” WayMusician Author:Levon Helm
“I didn't write any music at all, and then, I remember Jon Anderson being very insistent saying that there were two kinds of musicians: the ones who wrote music and the ones who didn't. And clearly the ones who wrote music were more superior human beings in his mind. So he kind of nudged me and sort of prodded me into it. I picked it up slowly. Then I learned more about chords and harmony and I just kept adding to that. One of the great things about having good players in your band is that you just ask them questions. You can pick up some good information that way.” WayWritingMindHumansKindTwoRememberAsksHuman BeingsPlayerInformationBandMusicianPicksHarmonySuperiorsGreat ThingsChordsGood Information Author:Bill Bruford
“Once you lose that musician part -not just the playing, I'm talking about musician attitude- then you're lost, man. Especially if you started out that way. It feels so good to be back, starting from the ground up.” IfsMenWayFeelsLostLosesAttitudeTalkingMusicianStarting Author:Bootsy Collins
“The biggest reward from that record was the enthusiasm everyone had to sing on it. The Grammy nominations and the chart positions are great, but ultimately the way you interact with other musicians is the most important thing to me.” WayImportantRecordsPositionMusicianImportant ThingsRewardsEnthusiasmNominationsGrammy Author:Chris Botti
“First of all I think that is true, if you are a musician, particularly on the comeback that you do have to end up in one of these musical centers somewhere to be viable, salable and so on.” IfsThinkingWayFirstsEndsMusicianMusical Author:John Sebastian
“What I try to impart to a musician is to really try to practice the instrument in a really sincere way. Learn as much about music as you possibly can. Learn composition. Study to try to create compositions of your own and put your own personal touch on your music.” WayTryingPracticeStudyMusicianInstrumentsSincereCompositionImpartPersonal Touch Author:Roscoe Mitchell