Charlie Parker Quotes

Good music comes out of people playing together, knowing what they want to do and going for it. You have to sweat over it and bug it to death. You can't do it by pushing buttons and watching a TV screen.

As a composer, I'm basically trying to represent myself through my music in an honest way.

You can play as good as you want, but you have to sing from a place of living.

I've always just focused on the work, and I've just tried to be honest with the work. If the work speaks to people, fantastic.

As an actor, I draw from myself.

I feel my live shows are my music; everything blossoms from the live shows.

The artists who stand out to me have a passion for what they do. There are a lot of people who can sing. It's just like when you go to church and people are singing because it sounds good, not because it feels good. There's a difference.

When I was doing 'Ordinary People' and 'Taps,' I never wondered if it would have a lasting impression. I was just wanting to make the best film we could and do my part in that and be true to what my responsibilities were.

I don't think I'm an entertainer. I never think, 'Wow, I can't wait to get the crowd moving.' Some of my favorite bands never moved an inch.

It's a physical challenge. It's a spiritual challenge. I'm studying almost every day a different symphony, not returning to any one for a week.

A work will only have deep resonance if the kind of darkness I can generate is something that is resident in me already.

I think the most challenging part of being a performer is just making sure that people know that when you get up there every night, it's unique and that you care.

I decided at 15 that I didn't want to be one of those artists that gets up and sings love songs they don't mean. I decided that I was going to be me to the fullest extent, that my songs were going to reflect relationships I've had, things I've been through, and even the stuff I'm embarrassed about.

I think a lot of what you do in acting, and for the most part singing and dancing and everything, is trial and error. It's all about just seeing what works, and if it does, to use it, and if not, to throw it away.

I'm very proud of my records, but my most natural creative tendencies have been in live performing. There's a beautiful element to recording and making records, but I've always felt a little shy with it.

I go for as much feeling as I can rather than show what I can do up and down the neck. I don't play to show people ability.

I'm not trying to be romantic. I think you can tell when people are trying to be sexy onstage. When I was doing 'All the Way,' I was really thinking about my wife. People don't know my personal experience, but they can tell it's an honest interpretation.

You sang in church, you know, and you didn't act at all. You tried not to act, you tried to tell the truth. The idea of being a troubadour on the road singing for your supper was very disturbing to him.

The first question at that time in poetry was simply the question of honesty, of sincerity.

I never dreamed that the little ditties I wrote about annoying customers or bagel recipes would turn into a full-length musical comedy. But a very wise person told me to 'write what you know'. So I did.

I can only speak for myself and my own music, because that is what I am most familiar with, and I write about things that I am living or experiencing.

I don't work out a lead section and practice it for a day and then lay it down. I don't do that. The first time I do something I think is expressive or really cool, that's what's actually on the recording.

The art of interpretation is not to play what is written.

I'm interested in directing attention and focus, explored through playing cello.

I've always thought that the act of playing the guitar was the act of trying to make a point of playing the guitar.