Mary Lou Williams Quotes

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

You can have the greatest player in terms of mastering an instrument and you could be yawning your head off when you hear them. So, it's not what you do, but the way you're doing it and in the end that's all that we have.

The beauty of it is when you can just show up and hit the notes.

How can we know the dancer from the dance?

Words are the children of reason and, therefore, can't explain it. They really can't translate feeling because they're not part of it. That's why it bugs me when people try to analyze jazz as an intellectual theorem. It's not. It's feeling.

Dancers are a work of art - they are the canvas on which their work is painted.

I'm in love with the way that Ella Fitzgerald delivered a lyric. She would deliver a lyric with the kind of clarity that would make you wonder why it was written, and make you think about the writer. I think every writer hopes an Ella of any genre or anytime gets a hold of their work and works the song like that.

Technique is superficial. The method used in applying technique is what gives music its character.

Every great dancer has so much to offer.

Technique is nothing more than failed style.

Dance has always been my number one. I started when I was seven years old and I've had the opportunity to work with some really amazing artists.

Without craftsmanship, inspiration is a mere reed shaken in the wind.

The body is your instrument in dance, but your art is outside that creature, the body.

Personality is everything in art and poetry.

With Whitney she has such a unique sound and powerful instrument that she made those songs her own. She might as well have written them because she brought such a power and passion to them that were very unique. She has a great gift.

The thing with food is that you can give 20 people the same recipe and the same ingredients, and somebody's going to make it better than somebody else, and that's the creativity of it. It's like music. You could have a bunch of people playing the same piece, and somebody's gonna play it better.

Performing is very much like cooking: putting it all together, raising the temperature.

Talent will only take you so far, and it is your ability to feel the music and explore a movement that will bring you the greatest pleasure in dance.

Art doesn't just happen by accident. It is about pulling out new tricks and trying new things.

Football is an art, like dancing is an art - but only when it's well done does it become an art.

I love to dance. I've been told I'm actually really good.

Sayyeesha is a great dancer.

To me, there's way more to being a good drummer than precision and technique.

My techniques are basics, but my willingness to be in the pocket and see things is very high level.

One of the things that made Bob so unique and wonderful is that he had a genuine style, like Balanchine, like de Mille.