In Jazz, improvisation isn't a matter of just making any ol' thing up. Jazz, like any language, has its own grammer and… — Wynton Marsalis Copy Share Image
And that's the soulful thing about playing: you offer something to somebody. You don't know if they'll like it, but you offer… — Wynton Marsalis Copy Share Image
Blues is like the roux in a gumbo. People ask me if jazz always has the blues in it. I say, if… — Wynton Marsalis Copy Share Image
Some stances are just conducive to swinging. If I stand up straight for too long it's harder to swing. Plus my feet… — Wynton Marsalis Copy Share Image
Through improvisation, jazz teaches you about yourself. And through swing, it teaches you that other people are individuals too. It teaches you… — Wynton Marsalis Copy Share Image
Jazz celebrates older generations and not just the youth movement. When you 'sell' only to people of a certain age, you get… — Wynton Marsalis Copy Share Image
As a jazz musician, you have individual power to create the sound. You also have a responsibility to function in the context… — Wynton Marsalis Copy Share Image
In the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra we play such a diversity of music, with 10 arrangers in the band, we don't… — Wynton Marsalis Copy Share Image
But you listen to Coltrane and that's something human, something that's about elevation. It's like making love to a woman. It's about… — Wynton Marsalis Copy Share Image
How great musicians demonstrate a mutual respect and trust on the bandstand can alter your outlook on the world and enrich every… — Wynton Marsalis Copy Share Image
Jazz music is America's past and its potential, summed up and sanctified and accessible to anybody who learns to listen to, feel,… — Wynton Marsalis Copy Share Image
The history of jazz lets us know that this period in our history is not the only period we've come through together.… — Wynton Marsalis Copy Share Image
Benny Goodman's band was integrated before baseball. Even before it was physically integrated, music was integrated. Everyone listened to Armstrong and Ellington.… — Wynton Marsalis Copy Share Image
The black hole in democracy is integrity. The great unspoken is integrity. When integrity is not first and foremost, it's quite palpable… — Wynton Marsalis Copy Share Image
It's really not a stretch. The checks and balances are the same. The drums are the executive branch. The jazz orchestra is… — Wynton Marsalis Copy Share Image
To say that the Afro American created jazz doesn't mean anything bad about Anglo Americans, and I always teach my younger jazz… — Wynton Marsalis Copy Share Image
“The thing in jazz that will get Bix Beiderbecke out of his bed at two o’clock in the morning, pick that cornet… — Wynton Marsalis Copy Share Image
“I noticed that religion gave some people a way to escape dealing with the world: “Things will be better when you die,”… — Wynton Marsalis Copy Share Image
Jazz is not the kind of music you are going to learn to play in three or four years or that you… — Wynton Marsalis Copy Share Image
The real power of Jazz is that a group of people can come together and create improvised art and negotiate their agendas...… — Wynton Marsalis Copy Share Image
The reason why the music [jazz] is important is because it's an art form-an ancient art form-that takes in the mythology of… — Wynton Marsalis Copy Share Image
I think that virtuosity is the first sign of morality in a musician. It means you're serious enough to practice. — Wynton Marsalis Copy Share Image
The first jazz musician was a trumpeter, Buddy Bolden, and the last will be a trumpeter, the archangel Gabriel. — Wynton Marsalis Copy Share Image
Jazz music celebrates life! Human life; the range of it, the absurdity of it, the ignorance of it, the greatness of it,… — Wynton Marsalis Copy Share Image
When those who are educated using their education to exploit those who aren't. That's what the sub-prime scandal represents - people of… — Wynton Marsalis Copy Share Image
Certain music, jazz in particular, has the ability to make you a better citizen of the world. It helps you expand your… — Wynton Marsalis Copy Share Image
When I did the Abyssinian mass, I went through the whole history of the church music and the gospel music, even with… — Wynton Marsalis Copy Share Image
I never minded giving my opinions. They are just opinions, and I had studied music and I had strong feelings. I was happy for… — Wynton Marsalis Copy Share
I always read all these books about the slaves. My mother is very educated. My father would talk to us like we were grown… — Wynton Marsalis Copy Share
“The best musicians know this music isn't about "schools" at all. Like my father says, "There's only one school, the school of 'Can you… — Wynton Marsalis Copy Share
And that's the soulful thing about playing: you offer something to somebody. You don't know if they'll like it, but you offer it. — Wynton Marsalis Copy Share
I'm not a person who writes really abstract things with oblique references. I look at abstraction like I look at condiments. Give me some… — Wynton Marsalis Copy Share
Many a revolution started with the actions of a few. Only 56 men signed the Declaration of Independence. A few hanging together can lead… — Wynton Marsalis Copy Share
“Today you go into make a modern recording with all this technology. The bass plays first, then the drums come in later, then they… — Wynton Marsalis Copy Share
In the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra we play such a diversity of music, with 10 arrangers in the band, we don't really worry… — Wynton Marsalis Copy Share
Commercialism that has absolutely no relationship to quality whatsoever, only quantitative assessment of a thing. — Wynton Marsalis Copy Share
Instead of imposing your will on every situation...focus on including everyone else, and just that little adjustment of attitude gives you the space to… — Wynton Marsalis Copy Share
“I noticed that religion gave some people a way to escape dealing with the world: “Things will be better when you die,” the people… — Wynton Marsalis Copy Share
Trumpet players see each other, and it's like we're getting ready to square off or get into a fight or something. — Wynton Marsalis Copy Share
![“The reason why the music [jazz] is important is because it's an art form-an ancient art form-that takes in the mythology of our people.” quote by Wynton Marsalis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb0/wynton-marsalis-1721_ancient_the-reason-why-the-music-jazz-is-importa_2464405.png)
