Jazz Composition Quotes

I feel very honored to be playing with Bill Pierce. He's such a great musician.

What I believe to be jazz is constructed and improvised music which is in the air right now. But I don't think that's most people's definition of jazz, you know? We don't know what we're talking about, because we don't know the definition.

Kenny G is not real jazz. I don't even think Wynton Marsalis is real jazz. I don't think Harry Connick Jr. is real jazz. If there is such a thing as real jazz, The Lounge Lizards is real jazz, Henry Threadgill is real jazz, Bill Frisell is real jazz, you know?

I was a jazz major in high school, in an all-jazz band. No matter what I do, it features my musical influences.

The point of jazz is, you do something and then you go on.

Grover Washington was my main influence, and when I went to college, I started listening to more of the jazz masters like Sonny Rollins, Cannonball Adderley, and John Coltrane.

You don't rehearse jazz to death to get the camera angles.

I grew up listening to John Coltrane and jazz, so they were subtle influences. I sometimes think about doing some kind of weird jazz record, but I don't know... It's on my list of things to do. I don't want to have to then go promote it.

I've always wanted to record a jazz record. I did one in the '70s with Barbara Carroll. It's been a journey.

Clare Fischer was a major influence on my harmonic concept. He and Bill Evans, and Ravel and Gil Evans, finally. You know, that's where it really came from. Almost all of the harmony that I play can be traced to one of those four people and whoever their influences were.

The people at Jazz at Lincoln Center are an amazing group and have done a phenomenal job teaching kids and audiences of all ages about jazz.

The month of September is Women in Jazz, so I'm doing jazz there in September. I'm in for the duration.

I haven't a great jazz band, and I don't want one.

When I found the music of Monk I finally found music that fit that horn. Every one of his tunes fit it perfectly.

Even though the music I make gathers influences from all over the place, I feel that the core of what I do comes from the jazz tradition. In terms of improvisation, interaction, feel and overall concept, Jazz is my main source of information and inspiration.

To most jazz critics I was basically Kenny G.

I was spoiled by Monk's music because it was so good, so complete.

My thing was, I loved music. I played music: I played the saxophone. So the little bit of music knowhow I had, I tried to implement that in every thing I did, from my style, my cadence, the way I tried to pause and stagnate it; that all came from John Coltrane and listening to jazz albums. Trying to rhyme like a jazz player.

I think that the jazzy approach that I have is based on the way that I hear music and in the way I play a supporting role to the other people in the band.

Rock & roll fan that I am, Thelonious Monk is probably my favorite musical artist.

I started in New Orleans music and played all through the history of jazz.

I just try to do as good job with the material as I can and play some jazz as well, some improvised music, and do that every night. Just see where it goes.

I understood jazz, I understood how it worked. That's what I apply to everything.

The history of all big jazz bands shows was, first they played for dancing, and then they played for singing.

My main influences have always been the classic jazz players who sang, like Louis Armstrong and Nat King Cole and Jack Teagarden.