"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." - Wynton Marsalis
source: Excerpt from remarks at Kennedy Center Honors program (December 3, 1996)
Showing posts with label Wynton Marsalis Quotes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wynton Marsalis Quotes. Show all posts
Wynton Marsalis Quotes
"The originality of Sweets [Edison's] sound lay not only in his rhythmic choices, but also in a direct, full tonal quality. So when the [Count] Basie band broke up in 1950, he was well-equipped to strike out on his own and go further in his musical adventures. Still today, he inspires me so much and all my colleagues I assume". - Wynton Marsalis
Featured Links
Wynton Marsalis & Willie Nelson Play the Music of Ray Charles DVD
http://www.history.com/dvd/wynton-marsalis/
Wynton Marsalis Quotes
"Because of (early Jazz writers) lack of understanding of the mechanics of music, they thought there weren't any mechanics. It was the "they all can sing, they all have rhythm" syndrome. If that was the case, why was there only one Louis Armstrong?" - Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis Quotes
"Jazz music is the power of now. There is no script. It's conversation. The emotion is given to you by musicians as they make split-second decisions to fulfill what they feel the moment requires." - Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis Quotes
"How great musicians demonstrate a mutual respect and trust on the bandstand can alter your outlook on the world and enrich every aspect of your life, understanding what it means to be a global citizen in the most modern sense." - Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis Quotes
"But you listen to Coltrane and that's something human, something that's about elevation. It's like making love to a woman. It's about something of value, it's not just loud. It doesn't have that violent connotation to it. I wanted to be a jazz musician so bad, but I really couldn't. There was no way I could figure out to learn how to play." - Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis Quotes
"Trumpet players are just belligerant, and cocky, and you know, just hard-headed." - Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis Quotes
"Some stances are just conducive to swinging. If I stand up straight for too long it's harder to swing. Plus my feet hurt." - Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis Quotes
"You need a team. You need people to push you. You need opponents." - Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis Quotes
"When I first came to New York everybody on the scene would treat me like I could play, but I couldn't." -Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis Quotes
"When I auditioned for my high school band the band director was excited because my father was known to be a great musician. When he heard me, he said 'Are you sure you're Ellis's son?'" - Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis Quotes
"Whenever you face a man who's playing your instrument, there's a competition." - Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis Quotes
"When did we begin to lose faith in our ability to effect change?" - Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis Quotes
"What, other than injustice, could be the reason that the displaced citizens of New Orleans cannot be accommodated by the richest nation in the world?" - Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis Quotes
"What I really have in my head, my imagination, my understanding of music, I never really get that out." - Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis Quotes
"We looked up to our father. He still is much greater than us." - Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis Quotes
"We always hear about the rights of democracy, but the major responsibility of it is participation." - Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis Quotes
"Through first-class education, a generation marches down the long uncertain road of the future with confidence." - Wynton Marsalis
