It's important to address young people in the reopening of New Orleans. In rebuilding, let's revisit the potential of American democracy and American glory. Wynton Marsalis More Quotes by Wynton Marsalis More Quotes From Wynton Marsalis I think that virtuosity is the first sign of morality in a musician. It means you're serious enough to practice. Wynton Marsalis practice mean thinking Everything comes out in blues music: joy, pain, struggle. Blues is affirmation with absolute elegance. It's about a man and a woman. So the pain and the struggle in the blues is that universal pain that comes from having your heart broken. Most blues songs are not about social statements. Wynton Marsalis pain struggle song Ethics are more important than laws. Which means that the exact note is less important than the feeling of the note. Wynton Marsalis law feelings mean Through improvisation, jazz teaches you about yourself. And through swing, it teaches you that other people are individuals too. It teaches you how to coordinate with them. Wynton Marsalis jazz-improvisation swings people Benny Goodman's band was integrated before baseball. Even before it was physically integrated, music was integrated. Everyone listened to Armstrong and Ellington. The 20s was called the Jazz Age. It's part of being American. Wynton Marsalis band baseball age What is deeper than respect and love? That’s what we felt: veneration. Wynton Marsalis veneration love-and-respect and-love Sustained intensity equals ecstacy. Wynton Marsalis intensity jazz We always hear about the rights of democracy, but the major responsibility of it is participation. Wynton Marsalis democracy responsibility rights When you study our greatest artists, you will find that they give us a key to understand how to deal with each other, and that our bloodlines are intertwined. It's not hyphenated America. That there is an America, and it is expressed in those arts. It gives us a key to figure out how to negotiate with each other, and it tells us actually who we are. Wynton Marsalis keys america art Because the blues is the basis of most American music in the 20th century. It's a 12-bar form that's played by jazz, bluegrass and country musicians. It has a rhythmic vocabulary that's been used by rock n' roll. It's related to spirituals, and even the American fiddle tradition. Wynton Marsalis vocabulary inspiring country Humility is the doorway 2 truth & clarity of objectives... it's the doorway 2 learning. Wynton Marsalis clarity humility doorways The bandstand is a sacred place. Wynton Marsalis sacred-places sacred jazz I have absolutely no idea what my generation did to enrich our democracy. We dropped the ball. We entered a period of complacency and closed our eyes to the public corruption of our democracy. Wynton Marsalis democracy eye ideas If you're not making mistakes, you're not trying. Wynton Marsalis guitar-music mistake trying The soul gives us resilience - an essential quality since we constantly have to rebound from hardship. Wynton Marsalis resilience soul giving The main three components are the blues, improvisation - which is some kind of element that people are trying to make it up - and swing, which means even though they're making up music, they're trying to make it up together. It feels great, like you're having a great conversation with somebody. Wynton Marsalis swings mean people I dress up a certain way because I respect the music. Wynton Marsalis respect dresses way Blues is like the roux in a gumbo. People ask me if jazz always has the blues in it. I say, if it sounds good it does. Wynton Marsalis gumbo sound people The heart of a music is its rhythm. The heart of rhythm section music is the rhythm. Wynton Marsalis rhythm music-is heart My mother always took my brothers and me to music lessons. There were six children. Our parents attended our concerts and encouraged us to study and enjoy many different types of music. Wynton Marsalis brother mother children
