Don Alias Quotes

"If you're really digging in -- soul to soul, skin on skin -- you're going to do damage to your hands [playing the Conga drum]. It's an occupational hazard. You're going to be playing, and it's going to hurt. You're really going to have to love to play in order for you to do this kind of work, because it's going to hurt you." - Don Alias

source: digitalinterviews.com

Don Alias Quotes

"I just read an article in a drum magazine, and I won an award as being the jazz percussionist. I really like that terminology -- jazz percussionist. They had different headings, like Latin percussionist and Salsa percussionist. I was the jazz percussionist. For me, that's a tremendous compliment, because it covers all the music." - Don Alias

source: digitalinterviews.com

Don Alias Quotes

"At the end of the night, I'm sweating. I feel as though I have played. That's what I am -- I'm a player. I like to play out. With this [David Sanborn's] band, I get the opportunity to do that -- to play. That's why I'm here." - Don Alias

source: digitalinterviews.com

Don Alias Quotes

"She [Joni Mitchell] wanted to have that (jazz) element in her music. Of course, when she heard Jaco's [Jaco Pastorius'] music and met him, that floored her -- really grabbed her. She decided that Wayne Shorter was really conducive to her music. She would speak metaphorically about things. "I want this to sound like a taxicab driver, or a taxi in New York," or "I want this to sound like a telephone ringing." She would speak to musicians like that, and we really tuned into what she would want our music to be." - Don Alias

source: digitalinterviews.com

Don Alias Quotes

"We're talking about an extremely prolific poet and songwriter and lyricist. That stuff comes off the top of her head. She [Joni Mitchell] will write exactly what she lives. If she puts some money in the soda machine, she'll write about putting money in the soda machine. "Dry Cleaner from Des Moines," on the Shadows & Light album, was about sitting next to a dry cleaner from Des Moines, playing a slot machine." - Don Alias

source: digitalinterviews.com

Don Alias Quotes

Sometimes I found myself playing, and turning over to my left, and I would see Miles Davis standing there, looking to see what was happening. I got a call to come down to this recording session. I walked into the studio and saw all of these musicians. Everybody knew it was going to be a monumental session -- it turned out to be Bitches Brew. Most of the songs we'd done were first and second takes. Miles counted off one particular tune. I was playing percussion, and somehow or another it didn't gel. Lenny White and Jack DeJohnette were both playing drums. He counted it off a second time, and it didn't gel. I couldn't take it any longer. I had been practicing this one rhythm that I had gotten from a drummer, and I knew it was perfect for what he was playing. I just kind of just took it upon myself to say, "Miles, I've got this rhythm." He said, [raspy Miles Davis voice] "Well, just go play it." I played it, and he said, [raspy] "Show Jack." It's one of these kinds of rhythms that doesn't require a bunch of technique. An accomplished drummer like DeJohnette probably had no problem doing it, but at that moment it was a little hard to get. He just said, [raspy] "Stay there." So I got a chance to play drums on that." - Don Alias

source: digitalinterviews.com

Don Alias Quotes

"Then, on my way to California, I decided to stop in New York to do some research. I couldn't leave, because that's where the music was!" - Don Alias

source: digitalinterviews.com

Don Alias Quotes

"Mom did not want me to have anything to do with playing music. Being from a middle-class Black family in that particular era, everybody wanted you to have a profession -- a doctor, a lawyer, and so forth. So she sent me to school to study medicine." - Don Alias

source: digitalinterviews.com

Don Alias Quotes

"I grew up learning this stuff on the streets of New York. My brother and I used to play in the subway for money." - Don Alias

source:digitalinterviews.com

Don Alias Quotes

"If they [the crowd at The Apollo Theater] don't like you, they will let you know. When you didn't have any talent, they would let you know about it -- and not kindly. There'd be things like "Get off the stage!" and certain expletives we won't say here. It was a rough audience." - Don Alias

source: digitalinterviews.com

Don Alias Quotes

"I grew up in New York. We were all diversified, as far as music was concerned. I grew up liking just about everything. So I tried to incorporate that into my playing, although the original school where I came from was Afro-Cuban music. But I liked all kinds of music -- I tried to bring that into everything." - Don Alias

source: digitalinterviews.com