Gerry Mulligan Quotes

45 quotes in 367 categories

• The first reason for starting to do the symphony concerts was to play this new piece of mine.
• What I came back to is that jazz is a music to be played and not to be intellectualized on.
• Eliminating the piano means that I've always worked closer with the bass than most players.
• Actually, it is a fact that I've been doing more writing than playing in recent years.
• Because if you've got the wit, you can make anything into a melody, ultimately.
• I like what I hear other guys doing, but the thing that really attracts me is melodic playing.
• I'm fascinated with the electronic devices that we can mess around with.
• I've always wanted a C trumpet on top, to have that same kind of facility without shouting.
• I've appeared on some other people's albums.
• In a way, I started out to be a baritone player.
• If you've only got one horn playing, I still want the sense of ensemble.
• Miles Davis is one who writes songs when he plays.
• It's true I've always been attracted to the jazz band in an orchestral way, rather than a band way.
• This life of being a transient human being has gotten to a point when it's very hard to bear
• Then, of course, I played alto and tenor, wherever there were jobs.
• New York is still where I live most of the time.
• Now, the instrumentation in the jazz band and the jazz dance band has gone through many evolutions. For instance, in the 'twenties the tradition was…
• The Russian composers, especially, tricked the symphony orchestra into the kind of dynamic, rhythmic thing
• I would think, of all the saxophones, the baritone would be the most logical instrument if anybody was adding a voice to the symphony orchestra.
• Actually, when I was very young, first starting to play, I think I probably listened more to clarinet players than to saxophones.

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