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All Branford Marsalis Quotes
If you're going to use standards as criteria for signing musicians, you can sign thousands. If you're going to use some sort of conceptual interpretation that's based on the tradition of those standards, but is trying to move away from it, you're down to about 10 people or so.
Branford Marsalis
60% of people like this quote
The biggest problem with American music right now, is that kids don't listen. They come by it honestly, Americans don't listen anyway. When people go to concerts, they say I'm going to see... not, I'm going to hear.
Branford Marsalis
59% of people like this quote
Pop doesn't really look back. It can't. What makes pop work is simplicity.
Branford Marsalis
57% of people like this quote
The piano is the X factor. People have a tough time following the structures when there's no piano there, spelling it out. It makes it more easily understood, particularly to people who don't know as much about music.
Branford Marsalis
57% of people like this quote
I gave up my base in popular culture when I left the Tonight Show.
Branford Marsalis
56% of people like this quote
I like to make records sound good. I'm more like a reducer than a producer. If an artist cannot produce themselves, what's the point?
Branford Marsalis
56% of people like this quote
The lion's share of what I hear right now are people who, intentional or accidental, have avoided all jazz prior to 1960. And all the musicians who were successful in the '60s spent their entire lives, prior to 1960, listening to all the musicians these people avoid.
Branford Marsalis
54% of people like this quote
Jazz fans love Miles and I love him for a myriad of reasons, but the overviews are always too simplistic.
Branford Marsalis
54% of people like this quote
That's kind of like how jazz is sometimes. You're out there predicting the future, and no one believes you.
Branford Marsalis
53% of people like this quote
One of the things that's clear to me from interviews that I've read is that the more popular successful jazz musicians had audiences above and beyond the music community.
Branford Marsalis
53% of people like this quote
There's a certain kind of motion and pacing that our music has, and this just doesn't have that. We just kind of rushed to the conclusion of most of the songs. I just would've preferred to done them over.
Branford Marsalis
51% of people like this quote
I'm not going to play funk licks on a jazz album. That makes no sense.
Branford Marsalis
50% of people like this quote
Coltrane came to New Orleans one day and he was talking about the jazz scene. And Coltrane mentions that the problem with jazz was that there were too few groups.
Branford Marsalis
50% of people like this quote
A lot of musicians have a tough time hearing what we're doing in a trio format.
Branford Marsalis
50% of people like this quote
You hear it in your brain. Whatever makes sense. Some songs work well as quartet songs, sometimes they don't.
Branford Marsalis
49% of people like this quote
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