Branford Marsalis Quotes

Whenever I hear somebody cover a song, I don't like to hear it stray too far from the original. I like to hear some of the new energy that a band will put into it, but you kind of want to hear some of the basic parts of the song. I mean, that's what makes it the song that you like.

The most important thing is that you honor that musical integrity, whether you make music that sounds like ABBA or you make music that sounds like Void.

A few performances have been left out of the various Woodstock soundtracks and film edits over the years, most notably The Grateful Dead.

In a way, the highest praise you could give to a composer like Bach was to take and make your own arrangement; it was sort of an homage to that composer and to his work, so it wasn't considered sacrilegious to do something like that.

I have a repertoire of songs that I'm proud of, that I've written for my own band. When I do a cover, something that somebody else has written, I think about it very carefully before I sing that song. I have to really get behind it and understand it and like it. And that's how I pick roles. I don't want to play just anything.

I was interested in maintaining the dignity and the hearts of the songs, letting them breathe and become what they are.

The message of music was also the first thing what I learned from my first teacher. She was an organist too and she was very devoted to what she played, so she had a respect for every piece and she felt that she is not allowed to add something of her own.

I think the fans really wanna hear the songs the way they sound on the record.

We don't need another Woody. Even Bob Dylan knew he couldn't be Woody Guthrie... I like Woody Guthrie fine, but I don't need the 50th generation version of it.

I've always loved War's Low Rider and Sly Stone's Thank You, and I just wanted to put my take on them.

The Grateful Dead played for three hours on a given night, plus sound check.

There is still nothing under the sun quite like a Grateful Dead concert.

With a band like Shenandoah, you don't want to take things and deconstruct them to a point where you don't recognize them.

I've always wanted to make records that rock like hell. But also, I've never wanted to compromise that Country place deep inside.

It's a different kind of satisfaction, different kind of enjoyment than making your own songs, to remake someone else's song that you really like.

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.

I don't think I could ever be in a band if we just had to go out there and play the record note for note. I'd give up. I'd become a banker.

I saw the Dead in '73 at Nassau Coliseum, and that same year, I saw them at the crazy, big Watkins Glen festival. It was just outrageous. It was amazing to see the reciprocity between them and their audience.

The best AC/DC cover I've heard? There was an all-girl cover band in America, the Hell's Belles.

The thing about doing mashups and covers is it's great, but a part of you never gets to really showcase what your original sound is like or what your writing voice is like.

We've always imagined ourselves as a rock band. We've always been a rock band playing the wrong instruments.

I wear my musical heart on my sleeve and show all my influences off. I'm happy for someone to point out that my song sounds like someone else's.

Blues Traveler is hot, and Big Head Todd, the Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies - all of 'em.

Music is nothing but sound, and there is no place for value judgement among various sounds.

That's why I don't necessarily enjoy it when bands cover other songs. You'll never recreate what has been done, especially if it's something that's legendary and classic.