Music is always for the listener, but the first listener is always the musician 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-upnew-orleansself-esteem Whenever you face a man who's playing your instrument, there's a competition. Wynton Marsalis competitionfacesmen 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 exerciserunningchildren Trumpet players are just belligerant, and cocky, and you know, just hard-headed. Wynton Marsalis cockyjazzplayer The first jazz musician was a trumpeter, Buddy Bolden, and the last will be a trumpeter, the archangel Gabriel. Wynton Marsalis gabrielmusicianlasts 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 privilegedisciplinewant 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 nervessay-anythingpeople 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 independencetogethermen I believe in professionalism, but playing is not like a job. You have to be grateful to have the opportunity to play. Wynton Marsalis gratefuljobsbelieve 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 jazzstudymen A beat is a moment in the life a groove. Wynton Marsalis jazzmusicmoments Only a few act - the rest of us reap the benefits of their risk. Wynton Marsalis benefitsriskmusical 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 playkidsschool 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 abolition-of-slaverywould-benegative 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 philosophicalnew-yorkhome 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-arewayart 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 echoesnew-orleansmilitary New Orleans - the real New Orleans - is the soul of the country. Wynton Marsalis new-orleansrealcountry 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 gridsswingsway 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 communicationopportunitypeople
