“Intimate singing had a wonderful style in the '30s and '40s. It came out of Broadway and the jazz of Louis Armstrong and Billie Holliday. But Sinatra created the best romantic era that we've ever had.” MusicWonderfulStyleSingingRomanticJazzErasIntimateBroadwayArmstrong Author:Tony Bennett
“I was in college, but I got kicked out. It was a very free school, but I created a "bad impression." Like I was a bit more fiery in those days. At the time I got kicked out, I knew exactly what I was going to do and didn't even bother to go back for a leaving certificate. Then I was singing in folk clubs around Birmingham and playing jazz in clubs on Sundays.” SchoolBitsCollegeSingingJazzLeavingFolksClubsImpressionBotherSundayFieryCertificatesBirminghamPlaying JazzBad Impression Author:Steve Winwood
“I regard singing pretty much like acting. Each song is like playing a different role. I get very involved with my material. I feel a responsibility for the emotion it brings out in the listener.” FeelsDifferentSongActingEmotionResponsibilityRolesMaterialsInvolvedSingingRegardJazzListeners Author:Peggy Lee
“You can't teach it [jazz singing]. There's nobody who can teach you how to sing jazz. Either you know how to sing jazz, or you don't.” KnowsTeachKnow HowSingingJazz Author:Tony Bennett
“I ... started out to become a jazz pianist; in the meantime I started singing and I sang the way I felt and that's just the way it came out.” WayFeltSingingJazzPianist Author:Nat King Cole
“I've always written poetry but I didn't realise it was a therapy for me until I was maybe 15. That's when my singing started to come together as well because I was listening to so much jazz. What I love I will always embrace.” WellsTogetherWrittenListeningSingingEmbraceJazzTherapyRealising Author:Amy Winehouse
“I hate straight singing. I have to change a tune to my own way of doing it. That's all I know.” KnowsWayHateChangeMy OwnMusicSingingI HateJazzMusicalTunes Author:Billie Holiday
“Everything comes from one thing, everything comes from the Spirit. Jazz would not exist had it not been for gospel music, the blues would not exist had it not been for spiritual blues, which goes back to slave songs our fore fathers were singing while they were out in the field. So it's all one continuous growth from one group of people. Of course jazz now is played by various cultures and colors around the world. But the stimulus is One Voice.” PeopleWorldSpiritualSpiritSongCultureCoursesFatherGrowthVoiceOne ThingGroupsFieldsColorSingingJazzSlaveVariousAround The WorldStimulusGospel MusicContinuous Growth Author:Ramsey Lewis
“I started singing Folksongs with my mother when I was 6 years old. We sang at Folk festivals and concerts and schools. There was always music being played either on record, Jazz and Folk, by musician friends of my mother. I took to singing very early, I believe it has been a Gift I was born with.” YearsBelieveHas BeensSchoolMotherI BelieveBornRecordsMusicianMusic IsSingingJazzFolksConcertsFestivalsBeing Played Author:Vicki Sue Robinson
“Classical singing - everything had to be homogenous, and it had to just feel like one continuous flow from top to bottom, bottom to top. And in jazz, I felt like, oh, well, I can sing these deep, husky lows if I want and then sing these really, like, tiny, laser highs if I want, as well. And I have - I have no obligation to make it sound like it's just one continuous flow.” IfsWantFeelsWellsI CanFeltSoundSingingLowsFlowJazzBottomTinyObligationJust OneOh WellLasersHuskies Author:Cecile McLorin Salvant
“When I was a teenager, I dreamed of being an opera singer like Maria Callas or a jazz singer like June Christy or Chris Connor, or approaching songs with the kind of mystical lethargy of Billie Holiday, or championing the downtrodden like Lotte Lenya. But I never dreamed of singing in a rock-and-roll band.” KindSongRocksBandSingingJazzSingersTeenagerHolidayOperaRock And RollMysticalJuneLethargyDowntroddenOpera SingersCallas Author:Patti Smith
“I find that jazz loosens up the deep place of my mind, lets me find my own strange rhythms. Generally, I find the knottier the jazz, the better. Anything with singing is a distraction. Listening to classical music tends to have the unconscious effect of making my writing too smooth.” WritingMindStrangeListeningSingingLet MeJazzRhythmUnconsciousDistractionSmoothClassical Music Author:Paul Lynch
“The memory of things gone is important to a jazz musician. Things like old folks singing in the moonlight in the back yard on a hot night or something said long ago.” LongSaidImportantNightMemoriesMusicGoneMusicianSingingHotJazzFolksLong AgoYardsMoonlightJazz MusicJazz Musician Author:Louis Armstrong
“They're singing your praises while stealing your phrases.” MusicSingingPraiseJazzStealingPhrases Author:Charles Mingus
“I was never interested in singing in the church or school. I was more interested in becoming a musician.” SchoolChurchMusicBecomingMusicianSingingJazzChurch Choir Author:Cassandra Wilson
“[Jazz singing] is like pornography. You can't say what it is, but you know it when you see it.” KnowsMusicSingingJazzMusicalPornography Author:Kurt Elling
“I can't stand to sing the same song the same way two nights in succession. If you can, then it ain't music, it's close order drill, or exercise or yodeling or something, not music.” IfsWayI CanTwoNightSongOrderLibertyExerciseSingingJazzSuccessionDrillsSinging SongsYodeling Author:Billie Holiday
“I'm a musician at heart. I know I'm not really a singer. I couldn't compete with real singers. But I sing because the public buys it.” KnowsHeartRealMusicMusicianSingingCompetitionJazzSingersAfrican AmericanPianist Author:Nat King Cole
“I never really liked poetry readings; I liked to read poetry by myself, but I liked singing, chanting my lyrics to this jazz group.” ReadingGroupsSingingJazzChantingPoetry Reading Author:Leonard Cohen
“That sound in tune to you?.. Sounds sharp to me. Sounds like I'm playing sharp all the time. My singing teacher told us you should do that. Maybe I got it from her. She said singers when they grow old have a tendency to go flat. So if you sing sharp as a young person, as you get older and go flat, you'll be in tune. In other words, it's never thought good to be flat. It means you can't get to the tone.” IfsShouldMeanPersonsSaidYoungGrowsSoundTeacherSingingJazzSingersTendenciesToneTunesFlats Author:Charles Mingus