Dianne Reeves Quotes

My own singing voice is not very good and I don't think that anybody really sings in their own voice.

Singing your own songs is all about individual expression.

If it's a good song and it fits me, that's what I'm going to do, I'm not out there trying to change the world. I'm just out there trying to sing country music the best way I can.

I'd love to claim the title of 'songwriter' or 'intellectual,' but the truth is that anything that I ever learned how to do in conjunction with music was purely so that I would have a platform to sing from.

So it's not so much that I set out to do something different, it's just that the songs themselves require their own individual voice and attention.

The main thing in making your own music is that it's an expression of someone's personality and being. That's what people want to hear, and you can't really teach that - that's just something that comes out. Teaching just hones that.

When I hear someone, instantaneously, I'm like, 'Who's singing?' You're giving people so much of yourself, and my voice is the most natural, distinctive tool I have. It's up to me to express myself on a wider scale than just writing vocal melodies and lyrics.

I can't just sing karaoke; I can't do anything to try to sound like other people. I have to find what I naturally sound like and emphasize that.

I have never followed anyone's style of singing.

People used to say nobody can sing my songs but me - they're too personal.

I just play to good people; they seem to like what I do, and the more they like it, the more I play.

It is rare that even a jazz musician finds an individual voice.

Everything I record, I just try to sound like me and come up with songs that suit what I do, and then just go for it.

I've just always written songs in a style that appeal to me personally.

I love to sing and I do think that my strength as a singer is... I think I have a voice that is certainly sufficient under most any circumstances... but I think my strength is that I really am an actor and I really do have to own what I am saying.

But I still don't have a clear idea of what my voice is.

You cannot teach a person how to write songs. It's about being your own person and following your instincts.

I wrote so much about fandom and participation for NPR that I eventually realized my most fertile way of participating in music is to actually play it, at least in a way that made the most sense to me.

I can only be me. I have a hard time being a chameleon as a singer.

I guess I'm happy that I'm getting the attention. Otherwise, I'd just be playing in a local bar in front of my family members, and I'm sure they'd get sick of that in no time.

I listened to Billie Holiday a lot in order to learn to sing. She remains one of the extraordinary jazz singers. But my intent is to become my own voice, to be able to interpret these songs in my own way.

Labels don't mean anything to me. I'm trying to play as passionately as I'm able to. If they want to call that cool, that's fine. Just spell the name right, is the formula.

You can time a part perfectly and play it badly. And some people have very individual offbeat timing, which is their own. It works simply because they are who they are.

I'm not the best singer, but I like the way I sing my songs.

A musician should only sound like what they do, and no two musicians sound the same. It's an individual-feel thing, you know?