Risk is at the heart of jazz. Every note we play is a risk.
I'm definitely a risk-taker with my music.
To put my name on a track as a solo artist was a big deal to me. There was no band to act as a buffer.
Jazz shouldn't have any mandates. Jazz is not supposed to be something that's required to sound like jazz. For me, the word 'jazz' means, 'I dare you.'
When you start to kind of immerse yourself in that improvisation culture, you gotta be comfortable enough with your instrument to throw yourself into a really potentially dangerous situation.
Doing something like that, quite radically changing your approach to sound in one go, could leave you high and dry. It's happened before where people have changed direction and then everyone's stopped liking their music.
I think music needs danger; it needs risk.
A lot of people told me that I'm committing musical suicide with my sound.
Improvisation is the courage to move from one note to the next.
The goal is never be a copycat of ourselves. It's more along the lines of taking risks in our music.
What I really like doing is taking risks, musically.
Often, equipment can as easily function as a security blanket for musicians unwilling or unable to risk anything personal in the studio. Whether one catches the feeling on a record is a subjective matter. How can you be sure? The machinery can hold out the promise of at least mechanical perfection.
Jazz is a fighter. The word 'jazz' means to me, 'I dare you. Let's jump into the unknown!'
And I'm interested in writing music that takes risks. My point is that maybe the term EDM is pinned on me and my buddies, but maybe it'll be less so if I experiment.
I think people are largely proud of being musically on the risk. Any time you talk to someone about music, I feel like everyone is kind of always underlining just, you know, how voracious their appetites for various things are.
I took a lot of time to open myself up to taking chances musically.
If I went crazy and tried to make pop music, my band wouldn't record it! I love them too much to do that.
All the blues greats took chances and developed their own style. They didn't copy.
He had a bright, reckless tenor that was always wandering off, looking for notes in the wrong places.
All my favorite bands are the ones that push the limits and boundaries.
I think my intention was there, and my love for the music was apparent. And there are very few singers who get up and desire to take the kinds of risks that jazz musicians routinely need to be taking.
I must tell you I take terrible risks. Because my playing is very clear, when I make a mistake you hear it. If you want me to play only the notes without any specific dynamics, I will never make one mistake. Never be afraid to dare.
