“When I decided to be a musician I was hoping that it would be one of my contributions in having a positive impact on the world. That's always what I wanted to do.” WorldWould BeWantedMusicianDecidedImpactContributionPositive ImpactImpact On The World Author:Goapele
“When I'm alcohol-free now and even to see the world around me, I appreciate it, but I never truly enjoy too much of it maybe because I feel like I'm a working musician. There are some joyous moments, but I will not think a joyous moment.” ThinkingWorldFeelsMomentsEnjoyToo MuchMusicianAppreciateAlcoholJoyous Author:Stan Getz
“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
“He [Benny Carter] is all that every jazz musician the world over wants to be. He's performed 20,000 nights. How many shoes have been shined? How much mascara put on? Rouge? How many of those impossible bowties have been tied? How many love songs have been sung? How many dances have been danced? How many have passed to the sound of his music? It's been said that a man should not be forced to live up to his art. Benny Carter is one of the rare instances when we wonder whether the great art that a man has created can live up to him.” MenWorldWantShouldHas BeensArtSaidNightSongSoundWonderImpossibleMusicianArt IsJazzShoesInstanceTiedGreat ArtJazz MusicCarterJazz MusicianMascaraRouge Author:Wynton Marsalis
“At birth we begin to discover that shapes, sounds, lights, and textures have meaning. Long before we learn to talk, sounds and images form the world we live in. All our lives, that world is more immediate than words and difficult to articulate. Photography, reflecting those images with uncanny accuracy, evokes their associations and our instant conviction. The art of the photographer lies in using those connotations, as a poet uses the connotations of words and a musician the tonal connotations of sounds.” WorldLongArtUseLightFormLyingDifficultSoundOur LivesPoetBirthShapesPhotographyMusicianPhotographerConvictionInstantAssociationReflectingTextureAccuracyEvokeConnotationUncanny Author:Nancy Newhall
“I think right now is when we need to hear different voices coming out of all parts of the world. You can't just hear the politicians and the military leaders. You have to hear from the taxi drivers. You have to hear from the painters. You have to hear from the poets. You have to hear from the school teachers and the filmmakers and musicians.” ThinkingWorldNeedsDifferentSchoolVoiceLeaderTeacherMilitaryPoetPoliticianRight NowMusicianPainterFilmmakerDriversComing OutTaxiSchool TeachersMilitary LeaderDifferent Voices Author:Michael Franti
“I only say this because a lot of people seem to think that if you're a musician you want to be a celebrity. But most musicians in the world aren't celebrities, and pretty much everything about the concept of 'celebrity' is a complete load of bollocks anyhow.” PeopleIfsThinkingWorldWantSeemsMusicianConceptsLoad Author:Brooke Fraser
“As a matter of fact it wasn't until after BIG passed and stupid rumors went around that I had something to do with it, and it's like I'm not a killer man , I'm a musician, I'm a DJ we got like a different heart. Ya know back then when rappin' was fun, and we could immolate being gangstas; ya know Dr. Dre made the hardest gangsta rap records in the world, that didn't necessarily make him a gangsta. It was all like ya know : character, we were all in character.” KnowsMenWorldHeartMadeDifferentMatterCharacterFactsBigsFunRecordsStupidMusicianRapHardestKillersDrsRumorMatter Of FactDjsGangstaGangsta RapDr Dre Author:DJ Quik
“Recording in Nashville was absolutely essential to get the sound, the musicians, the atmosphere, the warmth... There are just cult places like that in the world, like Chicago for the blues or New York for jazz. Nothing sounds the same in Nashville as it does elsewhere. Nashville is the Mecca of country music and everyone knows it.” KnowsWorldDoeCountrySoundNew YorkEssentialsMusicianJazzAtmosphereWarmthChicagoElsewhereCultNashvilleMecca Author:Roch Voisine
“To be a musician is a great privilege but it is also a very great responsibility. One must think that to be a musician is a gift - a gift from Nature. There is no great merit in us except in loving this gift with respect and devotion and doing everything possible to honor that gift by work and more work. We must work with conviction and humility, searching for beauty, simplicity, and the Truth. And it is for us musicians to do all in our power for a better world. Music must carry the message of beauty, of love and of peace.” ThinkingWorldResponsibilityHumilityHonorMessagesMusicianSimplicityPrivilegeConvictionDevotionMeritWorld MusicGreat Responsibility Author:Pablo Casals
“I think every musician is different, every artist is different, and in a perfect world people would be able to pursue their own path and have the inspiration and the drive to, and the energy and dedication to take their path to its fruition. I don't really believe in formulas.” PeopleThinkingWorldBelieveDifferentInspirationWould BeAbleArtistEnergyPerfectPathMusicianPursueFormulasDedicationA Perfect WorldFruition Author:Emily Haines
“I want longevity; I love music, being a musician is the greatest gift in the world to me, and if I were to get signed to a label, my family and team around me are always gonna be there to make sure they want the very best for me. My fans are what it's all about.” IfsWorldWantTeamFansMusicianMusic IsMy FamilyLabelsLongevityGreatest GiftsMusic LoveI Love Music Author:Christina Grimmie
“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
“In a personal way, to do with family and the father-son relationship, in a kind of artistic way with regard to him being an art student. I also studied the visual arts at Lancaster University. I then decided to become an actor as he was becoming a musician. And then as an actor/performer, we have similar sort of interests - music hall and that whole world. So, there's a lot that I felt connected with.” WorldWayKindArtWholeActorsFatherFeltInterestStudentsSonBecomingMusicianDecidedRegardUniversityConnectedWhole WorldArtisticVisualsHallsPerformersFather SonVisual ArtArt StudentsLancasterFather Son RelationshipMusic Hall Author:Andy Serkis
“I was a very bad musician. I was the world's worst guitar player, so when I was performing solo with a guitar, I had to keep things very simple.” WorldSimplePlayerWorstMusicianGuitarPerformingSoloGuitar Player Author:Loren Mazzacane Connors
“What I've witnessed, managers are divisive and allow musicians to become clouded, irresponsible, and unaware of the world around them.” WorldMusicianManagersIrresponsibleClouded Author:Jacob Bannon
“I suppose musicians have the kind of arrogant attitude that they can actually offer the world something, because through their passive power, they're able to be the strongest arms that they can be, incredibly strong. That's what keeps us going.” WorldKindAbleStrongAttitudeArmsOffersMusicianStrongestArrogantPassive Author:Lisa Gerrard
“My priorities now a a musician are so different now than they were as a kid. Everyone wants to be a rock star, and I wanted that too; I wanted to be on magazines and be running around the world and having all the fun.” WorldWantDifferentRunningKidsWantedFunStarsRocksMusicianPrioritiesMagazinesAround The WorldRock Star Author:Blake Judd
“More people than ever are spending money to support more artists and musicians and give them more leisure time to build cereal balls...and the art world is eating those balls up!” PeopleWorldGivingArtArtistSupportEatingMusicianBallsSpendingLeisureArt WorldCerealSpending MoneyLeisure Time Author:Brian Chippendale
“It's this funny thing now: You sign up to be a musician because you want to write music, but you don't spend your time writing music. Instead, you go around the world selling the music you've already made.” WorldWantWritingMadeMusicianSellingAround The WorldFunny ThingsWriting Music Author:Zachary Cole Smith
“I think a lot of actors, comedians, musicians, artists are drawn to this world, because you're allowed to excavate whatever it is that you're struggling with, and hopefully turn it into art.” ThinkingWorldArtArtistTurnsActorsStruggleThis WorldMusicianHopefullyComedian Author:Sandra Bullock
“I was deeply influenced by the sartorial practices of both preachers and jazz musicians and actually Masha in Act One of Anton Chekhov, my favorite writer's master piece,Three Sisters,when she arrives reflecting on whether they're ever going to get to Moscow, memories of the death of their father, and she's in black, and she says I'm in mourning for the world, saying in part that I have a sad soul and a cheerful disposition.” WorldSoulThreeFatherBlackMemoriesPracticePiecesMastersMusicianJazzMy FavoriteMourningPreacherDispositionCheerfulReflectingJazz MusicMoscowJazz MusicianChekhovThree SistersSad Soul Author:Cornel West
“When I worked with General Electric, again this was soon after the Second World War, you know, I was keeping up with new developments and they showed me a milling machine and this thing worked by punch cards - that's where computers were at that time, and everybody was sort of sheepish about how well this thing worked because in those days machinists were treated as though they were great musicians because they were virtuosos on these machines.” KnowsWorldWellsWarDevelopmentComputerMusicianMachinesTreatedCardsWar Of The WorldsElectricSecond World WarGreat MusicGreat MusicianGeneral Electric Author:Kurt Vonnegut
“I started imagining this whole different world. It was a society of musicians, a family I hoped I could belong to one day.” WorldDifferentWholeOne DayMusicianDifferent Worlds Author:Quincy Jones
“One of the things I love within music and within sports is how often musicians and athletes thank their audience. In the art world, you would never hear that.” WorldArtSportsAudienceMusicianAthleteThings I LoveArt World Author:Eric Fischl
“I once had a young musician come to me and say that he wanted to be a professional musician. I asked him to write his list. When he came back to me, the three things in his life he most wanted were: to be paid for his music; to travel around the world; to meet new people. We came to the decision, after thinking really creatively, that if he got a job on a cruise ship, he would fulfill those goals.” PeopleIfsThinkingWorldWritingWantedJobsYoungThreeGoalDecisionMusicianPaidListsShipsAround The WorldThree ThingsCruiseMeeting New PeopleCruise ShipsMost Wanted Author:Phil Keoghan
“I always thought that pop groups were going to be made up in the 21st century. It wouldn't be four musicians, as such. Especially in the online world, with the worlds that are opening up.” WorldMadeFourGroupsCenturyMusicianPopsOpeningOnline21st CenturyOpening Up Author:Paul Morley
“I'm in a very good place now because I do theater, I do TV and I make movies. I was a dancer, so I dance a little bit. I was a musician, so I do a little bit of music. And I do all of this in four or five different languages, and all over the world.” WorldLittlesDifferentLanguageBitsFiveFourTvsLittle BitMusicianTheaterVery GoodDancerGood PlaceDifferent Languages Author:Richard Sammel
“When I was a kid, all I wanted to do was to be a musician. I lost everything I had, but I just knew that someday I'd be able to tell the world to 'go big or go home.' The world needs to know.” KnowsWorldNeedsHomeBigsKidsAbleWantedLostMusicianSomedayLost Everything Author:Derek Waters
“Growing up with my dad being a musician, it seemed like a male centric world to me. I just didn't know many girls playing guitar.” KnowsWorldGirlGrowing UpGrowingDadMusicianMalesGuitarMy DadPlaying Guitar Author:Lola Kirke
“In my imaginary utopian world there would be a greater allegiance between music writers and musicians.” WorldWould BeGreaterMusicianImaginaryAllegianceUtopian Author:Emily Haines
“I think it's time to travel, start gathering some real right-in-there experiences with street musicians around the world.” ThinkingWorldRealStreetsMusicianAround The WorldGathering Author:Jimmy Page
“I had the opportunity, as a child, to grow up in a community center where I was exposed to theater, music, art, and computer science; things that I would have never had the opportunity to even meet had it not been for those people taking time out of their schedules, helping us as children to travel all over the world while sitting in a gymnasium. That's what I did before I was a musician, before I was a recording artist, I was a teacher and a community leader.” PeopleWorldChildrenArtHelpingArtistOpportunityGrowsCommunityLeaderGrowing UpTeacherComputerMusicianSittingTheaterExposedTake TimeSchedulesComputer ScienceGymnasiumsCommunity Centers Author:Erykah Badu
“In America, the poor have been invisibilised, because obviously this model of success that has been held out to the world must not show the poor, it must not show the condition of black people. It can only the successful ones, basketball players, musicians, Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell. But I think the time will come when the Occupy movement will have to somehow formulate something more than just anger.” PeopleThinkingWorldHas BeensShowsAmericaBlackPoorSuccessfulPlayerConditionsMovementBasketballMusicianModelsBlack PeopleRiceBasketball PlayerOccupy Movement Author:Arundhati Roy
“I'm inspired by artists and musicians. There are so many wonderful and talented people in the world. I love discovering new music, new writers, or new art.” PeopleWorldArtArtistInspiringWonderfulMusicianInspiredDiscoveringNew MusicTalented Musicians Author:Alicia Keys
“I did, I was in Europe a lot. I would say, mid 20s to late 30s. Less so in the last ten or twelve years. Based on some political stuff and other things, I think I'm not the only musician, the only American jazz musician that's not going to Europe quite as much. I think we're seen a little differently in the world, unfortunately, than we were pre-Iraq invasion and things like that.” ThinkingWorldYearsLittlesLastsPoliticalStuffTenLateMusicianEuropeJazzIraqTwelveInvasionJazz MusicJazz Musician Author:Jon Gordon
“After Hurricane Katrina, I wanted to go back to New Orleans to help musicians return to the city. But Andrew Young advised me, "If you want to help people, go work at an investment bank." His contrarian advice opened my eyes to the importance of capital. "Learn how to make some money before you give it away." I learned that you can bring about good in the world especially if you have a paycheck.” PeopleIfsWorldWantGivingHelpingEyeWantedYoungCitiesAdviceReturnMusicianImportanceInvestmentNew OrleansHurricanesAndrewPaychecksKatrinaHurricane KatrinaGood In The World Author:Kabir Sehgal
“Duke Ellington, Art Tatum, and many other great jazz musicians objected to their music being called jazz. While the outside world may want to put a label on it, those who create it think of it just as music, and tend not to classify it.” ThinkingWorldArtMusicianMusic IsJazzJazz MusicJazz Musician Author:Dave Brubeck
“Business today is all about improvisation, which is the essence of jazz. Perhaps in the past we could just follow the operating manual and do what we were told, but today the world is too complex and fast. Today it's all about real-time innovation and creativity. Individuals may get hired based on their resumes, but they'll get promoted and reach their dreams based on their ability to create. In that context, being a jazz musician was the best MBA I could have ever received.” WorldDreamTodayPastIndividualAbilityCreativityMusicianInnovationJazzJazz MusicImprovisationJazz Musician Author:Josh Linkner
“People equate job titles to levels of creativity. We think that musicians are creative while accountants are not. Job title has nothing to do with human creativity. In fact, we all have enormous creative potential. Even those that often state with authority that "I'm not creative." With a systematic approach to building creative capacity, we all have the opportunity to create and leave a mark on the world.” PeopleThinkingWorldOpportunityCreativityCreativeBuildingAuthorityMusician Author:Josh Linkner
“I feel like I live in my own little world, to be honest. I mean, I love my record, but I don't feel tied to it. I sort of created my own little universe in the studio, and that's why all of those musicians who made a living in the Nashville music scene loved coming over to my place so much.” WorldMeanUniverseHonestSceneMusicianBeing Honest Author:Dan Auerbach
“Poetry can explain individuals to ourselves, and change our attitudes, and help us see the complexity of the world, but the kind of poetry I follow isn't going to change public opinion directly. Other art forms can - if you're a TV writer, you have some interesting challenges, or if you're a country musician, somebody like Brad Paisley. But poetry not so much.” WorldKindArtCountryHelpingIndividualChallengesInterestingAttitudeOpinionMusicianComplexitySome Interesting Author:Stephen Burt
“My abject hatred of actors and the acting world. I went to college as an actor, and halfway through, I switched to playwriting and directing. Then I spent a couple years working in publishing, doing some freelance journalism for The Village Voice and Musician magazine. I thought my life was going to be as a writer, but then I realized I missed performing, so I got into comedy. It was a nice combination of things I was sort of good at. I was a pretty good writer and a decent actor, but I didn't really like acting, and I didn't have the discipline to be a writer.” WorldActingComedyNiceCollegeCoupleDisciplineMusicianHatredI RealizedJournalismPerformingDecentPublishingHalfway Author:Christian Finnegan
“Everybody always wants to meet musicians. You can go to any random bar around the world and be like, "I'm a musician," and they'll have something to say to you. It's kind of this weird passport where you can go around and as soon as you say you're a musician, you're welcome.” WorldKindMusicianWelcome Author:Patrick Watson
“People don't get that being a musician is a job, they don't get what the work takes. And that's just because you're living a dream, so everyone who's observing it from the outside can't really empathize with how much work it is because you're fortunate. And it's a kind of competition with yourself to stay away from all of the excess, whether it's booze or drugs or just the late nights with the addiction to watching the sun rise in some weird part of the world. But when you meet the other musicians, there's generally a spiritual exhaustion that you connect with.” PeopleWorldKindDreamSpiritualNightDrugMusicianCompetitionAddictionObservingExhaustionLate NightSun Rise Author:Kevin Drew
“I have a thing: I will always put money in for any street musician anywhere in the country, anywhere in the world. It's like giving back the money I got.” WorldGivingCountryMusicianGiving Back Author:Andy Grammer
“If I was not a film-maker I'd probably be a musician. I like Kanye West, Jay-Z, R&B, classical, jazz and all kinds of music, but I'd say soulful World Music is my favorite.” WorldKindMusicianMusic IsJazzMy FavoriteAll KindsSoulful Author:Kasi Lemmons
“There has to be some mystery in life, because the joy of being a writer and the joy of being a musician is the joy of discovery. I don't want someone discovering for me what I should be discovering on my own. If a person is discovering for me, then they're living for me. It's my responsibility, indeed it's my privilege, to go out and discover the world for myself.” WorldJoyResponsibilityMysteryMusician Author:James McBride
“I'm definitely a frustrated musician, though it's more in terms of wishing I was a better guitar player and songwriter. But I've never regretted becoming an actor instead. I think it's been a more pure form of self-expression for me. I luckily found something that I could aspire to be good at, whereas I never... I think I'd never quite reach that level of artist that I enjoy in the music world.” ThinkingWorldArtistWishEnjoyTermPlayerMusicianBe GoodFrustratedNever QuitGuitar PlayerNever Regret Author:Cillian Murphy
“I think most cartoonists are solitary, lonely kids who use their work as a way to try to connect with the world. If I had any other skills that were more performative - if I could have been a musician or an actor - I'm sure I would have pursued that instead in order to get that instant feedback and to hear applause.” ThinkingWorldTryingKidsMusicianLonelyInstantSolitaryFeedbackCartoonist Author:Adrian Tomine