I always felt of myself as a composer, performer, improviser. I've never called myself a jazz man. I make art. — Wadada Leo Smith Copy Share Image
I started composing when I was around 13, and back then, people used to say that I needed to be a composer or a performer, but I can't be good at both of them. I could never understand why anyone… — Wadada Leo Smith Copy Share Image
I have been in dialogue with my family about what can actually be done. We've come up with this philosophy that in a truly… — Wadada Leo Smith Copy Share Image
Jazz infers a style, but creative music has a wider field and wider specification about it. We know it from people like Scott Joplin… — Wadada Leo Smith Copy Share Image
I write all the time. I always have. I can pick up my horn to warm up, and an idea will pop into my… — Wadada Leo Smith Copy Share Image
I've got that Beethoven energy, that Stravinsky energy. And it's all a gift from the Creator. — Wadada Leo Smith Copy Share Image
The only thing that makes change possible is the idea of developing some kind of institution, because the institutions will survive individuals. — Wadada Leo Smith Copy Share Image
My solo playing utilizes the deployment of suggestive psychic rhythms. I'll state these throughout a given piece and play thematic improvisations on top of… — Wadada Leo Smith Copy Share Image
I'm an optimist. I have always been, and I will continue to be. So I believe there's always a possibility of transforming or changing… — Wadada Leo Smith Copy Share Image
When you live in the South, you're constantly part of the civil rights movement. — Wadada Leo Smith Copy Share Image
From now back to the past, we can observe clearly that none of us is free. — Wadada Leo Smith Copy Share Image
The artist is the consciousness of society... but musicians' role is very special. — Wadada Leo Smith Copy Share Image
