If you didn't have the amalgam of Blacks and African-type sensibility and European sensibility, you wouldn't have jazz. Even in the negative and in the positive ways - if there was no slavery and the abolition of slavery, there would be no jazz. Wynton Marsalis More Quotes by Wynton Marsalis More Quotes From Wynton Marsalis I grew up in the South, in New Orleans, where guys torture you all the time. So I didn't really grow up on the self-esteem campaign. When you were lousy at something, they told you you were lousy, and they told you how to fix it. Wynton Marsalis growing-up new-orleans self-esteem Whenever you face a man who's playing your instrument, there's a competition. Wynton Marsalis competition faces men Having heard Clifford Brown play all those fast runs, I used to really practice Clarke trumpet exercises all day long so that I could play fast. That's all I wanted to do. I was like a child with a toy. Wynton Marsalis exercise running children Trumpet players are just belligerant, and cocky, and you know, just hard-headed. Wynton Marsalis cocky jazz player The first jazz musician was a trumpeter, Buddy Bolden, and the last will be a trumpeter, the archangel Gabriel. Wynton Marsalis gabriel musician lasts I believed in studying just because I knew education was a privilege. It was the discipline of study, to get into the habit of doing something that you don't want to do. Wynton Marsalis privilege discipline want The nerves are a problem on trumpet, because when you mess up everyone can hear it. Just remember most people are too polite to say anything about it. That should calm your nerves. Wynton Marsalis nerves say-anything people Many a revolution started with the actions of a few. Only 56 men signed the Declaration of Independence. A few hanging together can lead a nation to change. Wynton Marsalis independence together men I believe in professionalism, but playing is not like a job. You have to be grateful to have the opportunity to play. Wynton Marsalis grateful jobs believe Jazz is not just 'Well, man, this is what I feel like playing.' It's a very structured thing that comes down from a tradition and requires a lot of thought and study. Wynton Marsalis jazz study men A beat is a moment in the life a groove. Wynton Marsalis jazz music moments Only a few act - the rest of us reap the benefits of their risk. Wynton Marsalis benefits risk musical The majority of the high schools and the public schools in N.Y.C. don't even have band programs. Hip-hop in a lot of ways is an outgrowth of a lack of instruments and a desire to play music, so we can't really fault the kids for that. Wynton Marsalis play kids school 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. Wynton Marsalis philosophical new-york home Jazz comes from our way of life, and because it's our national art form, it helps us to understand who we are. Wynton Marsalis who-we-are way art New Orleans had a great tradition of celebration. Opera, military marching bands, folk music, the blues, different types of church music, ragtime, echoes of traditional African drumming, and all of the dance styles that went with this music could be heard and seen throughout the city. When all of these kinds of music blended into one, jazz was born. Wynton Marsalis echoes new-orleans military New Orleans - the real New Orleans - is the soul of the country. Wynton Marsalis new-orleans real country Everything about the swing is about some guideline and some grid and the elegant way that you negotiate your way through that grid. Wynton Marsalis grids swings way We all teach from that same frame of reference. We're like neighborhood - the people who have had the opportunity through this music to gain a platform and spread the message of this music, which is basically love in a form of communication that's honest and truthful. Wynton Marsalis communication opportunity people Jazz is not the kind of music you are going to learn to play in three or four years or that you can just get because you have some talent for music. Wynton Marsalis three play years
