Dianne Reeves Quotes

Music is music; you don't have to put a label on it.

Music is music. It doesn't matter if I am trying to aim at country or trying to aim at pop.

I've always tried to stay clear of being labeled, putting a label on what type of music that I make.

I think I have a different view of what pop is and what can be acceptable in that realm. I feel good about that. I want fans to see that not everything's so black and white with genres.

Some people think I'm a rock 'n' roll musician and some think I'm a jazz musician but, for me, there is no difference.

I like hearing fiddles, steel guitar, acoustics up loud - really rock & roll stuff but with a country sound behind it. That's just who I am. I'm not trying to prove a point; I am just doing what I like. But I don't have any problems with any other artist coming in and doing their own thing.

The way I feel about music is that there is no right and wrong. Only true and false.

I never excluded any genre on my first record.

It's funny; people get so doctrinaire about music. It should be the last thing you don't have an open mind about.

Listen, man: I am not the industrial godfather, king, whatever. I don't relish that title. I don't like it. I think it's limiting. I do country, I do blues. I don't just go straight.

I really love music that's on the periphery of not fitting into a clear genre. I felt like I was constantly being described as something I didn't really feel like I identified with.

I found the blues too limiting, and classical was too disciplined.

People are always defining and re-defining music. My style of playing has been characterized as smooth jazz and acid jazz. I listen as I play; I'm not caught up in defining the type of music I play.

I've never been one of those people who say, 'Oh, well, if you play this kind of music, you can only like these kinds of bands.'

Nah, I'm not one of those 'hip-hop is dead' people. I just like different artists. I never look at it as one entity. I've always felt like that.

If we do a record, and there's a reggae song, it's not shocking to us. If we do an all hip-hop song, it's not shocking to us. We all listen to that sort of music. It's not about what's in at the time; it's what feels right to us and what we're comfortable in doing.

All my music sounds the same to me.

I think the music defends myself. I don't think anyone should put a race on any genre. It's just a way of expressing yourself through instruments and sounds, right? People can just listen to the music.

Who's to say a blues man can't play rock and roll?

I discovered that I didn't want to be strict like a German composer.

I don't think a song should be put in a category.

I really like jazz and soul, but I also love so many other types of music, and I didn't want to be afraid to blend and experiment.

A lot of times, people ask us about being a country band, and we say, 'Well, we're not really a country band.' And we're not knocking country, because we like it, but we don't want to be limited.

I don't want to limit myself musically. It would be really limiting if we'd neglect something we really want to do, like explore other styles of music.

I can't just turn over and sing disco or rock.