Some of the guys I played with .. didn’t go around learning more about their instruments from an intellectual point of view. All they wanted was to play hot jazz, and the instrument was just a means.
BENNY GOODMANIf you want to do something, you do it anyway, and handle the obstacles as they come.
More Benny Goodman Quotes
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Sometimes when you start losing detail, whether it’s in music or in life, something as small as failing to be polite, you start to lose substance.
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People have often said to me, ‘You’re so relaxed when you play.’ Relaxed my elbow. It’s practice.
BENNY GOODMAN -
I remember Glenn Miller coming to me once, before he had his own band, saying, How do you do it? How do you get started? It’s so difficult. I told him, I don’t know but whatever you do don’t stop. Just keep on going.
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After you’ve done all the work and prepared as much as you can, what the hell, you might as well go out and have a good time.
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There was a lot of playing going on, and the New Yorkers, of course, were a completely different crowd from what I’d known.
BENNY GOODMAN -
I think my first impression (of Bix Beiderbecke) was the lasting one. I remember very clearly thinking, ‘Where, what planet, did this guy come from? Is he from outer space?’
BENNY GOODMAN -
When I first arrived (in New York), it seemed to me the most terrifying city in the world… all those big buildings.
BENNY GOODMAN -
If I have something I want to do, I make a business of doing it.
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One way or the other, if you want to find reasons why you shouldn’t keep on, you’ll find ‘em. The obstacles are all there; there are a million of ‘em.
BENNY GOODMAN -
Creativity grows out of two things: curiosity & imagination.
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There was a refinement about his playing. You know, in those days I played a little trumpet, and I could play all the solos from his records, by heart.
BENNY GOODMAN -
Too many young musicians today want to win polls before they learn their instruments.
BENNY GOODMAN -
If a guy’s got it, let him give it. I’m selling music, not prejudice.
BENNY GOODMAN -
To this day, I don’t like people walking on stage not looking good. You have to look good. If you feel special about yourself then you’re going to play special.
BENNY GOODMAN -
I’d imagine that a lot of them criticized me-said my technique was too good. Something like that. But I’ve always wanted to know what made music. How you do it, and why it sounds good. I always practiced, worked like hell.
BENNY GOODMAN