One of the things that’s clear to me from interviews that I’ve read is that the more popular successful jazz musicians had audiences above and beyond the music community.
BRANFORD MARSALISIt’s hard to get into Newsweek because, as more of our former intellectual magazines take on a pop focus, if there’s no buzz, there’s no interest.
More Branford Marsalis Quotes
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When you’re dealing with music without words, titles are more a means of identification than anything else. What’s the point of getting lofty?
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What is jazz? It, It’s almost like asking, What is French? Jazz is a musical language. It’s a musical dialect that actually embodies the spirit of America.
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I like to make records sound good. I’m more like a reducer than a producer. If an artist cannot produce themselves, what’s the point?
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My dad was a musician, it was just what he did, like another guy’s dad drives a meat truck. Our house was normal. We weren’t taken with the fact our dad was a musician.
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The piano is the X factor. People have a tough time following the structures when there’s no piano there, spelling it out. It makes it more easily understood, particularly to people who don’t know as much about music.
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I’m not going to play funk licks on a jazz album. That makes no sense.
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The way to learn the language is to rip off other players. As Benny Golson told me, “We all start off sounding like other cats.
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The biggest problem with American music right now, is that kids don’t listen. They come by it honestly, Americans don’t listen anyway.
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One of the things that I loved about listening to Miles Davis is that Miles always had an instinct for which musicians were great for what situations. He could always pick a band, and that was the thing that separated him from everybody else.
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If I were like a lot of other people, then it wouldn’t be fun; but since I’m like me, it’s okay.
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It’s hard to get into Newsweek because, as more of our former intellectual magazines take on a pop focus, if there’s no buzz, there’s no interest.
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My job is to write songs that have emotional meaning to me.
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So much of Jazz doesn’t have an audience other than music students or musicians.
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If it’s not going to sound like Terrapin Station, what’s the point of playing Terrapin Station?
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You know, being America, being the land of “number ones”, everyone wants to be a leader before they follow.
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