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" I came up at a time in the late '60s, early '70s where music was without boundaries. You'd go into a music store, and the music was in alphabetical order. I hadn't heard of that word 'genre.' "
Dianne Reeves
Go
Early
You
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" People think jazz music is all standards and the Great American Songbook. But it's really about the sensibility, the feel you bring to the music. "
Dianne Reeves
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" Early on, I started with classical voice and had that wonderful foundation. For where I wanted to go at that time, there were no teachers to teach it, so I came up with all kinds of different ways to develop the sound of my voice. "
Dianne Reeves
Voice
Teachers
Foundation
" I had really great art classes. Really great art teachers. Arts played a very important role in having a place to express yourself uniquely. "
Dianne Reeves
Place
Yourself
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" I really enjoy going out with my jazz group. That's something that I don't ever want to stop doing. "
Dianne Reeves
Enjoy
Doing
Stop
" Some people think that all you do is record, and it's not the case. You take on other projects as well, and you have to live a little bit because it inspires your work. "
Dianne Reeves
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You
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" Now, jazz institutions are more readily available for young people, but for me, the institutions were the bands that I was in. When I worked with Clark Terry, that was the beginning of school for me, and Harry Belafonte and Sergio Mendes, they were all my universities. "
Dianne Reeves
Beginning
School
People
" The thing that I tell young people is everybody is unique in their approach to the music, and you have to protect that. "
Dianne Reeves
Young
Music
People
" I think that when I started singing, I didn't know what I wanted to do; I only knew what I didn't want to do. "
Dianne Reeves
Started
Know
Want
" Art and culture and all of these things - they really matter. They shape your individuality. "
Dianne Reeves
Art
Culture
Individuality
" When I worked with my uncle, I loved the fact that jazz music demanded that you use your own unique approach. "
Dianne Reeves
Loved
Unique
You
" I grew up with great mentors in my life who helped me become the singer I am today. "
Dianne Reeves
Me
Today
My Life
" I never called myself a jazz singer. I just call myself a vocalist because I love to sing all kinds of things. "
Dianne Reeves
Sing
Singer
Never
" I've dated a few musicians in my life, and it's kind of always been that way for me. You unite through creativity and share that process and more together. "
Dianne Reeves
Together
Life
Creativity
" Jazz musicians have always taken the standards of their time and performed them with a jazz sensibility. "
Dianne Reeves
Musicians
Jazz
Time
" I'm always inspired to push forward. "
Dianne Reeves
Inspired
Push
Forward
" Jazz musicians have always tended to have cult followings, which is pretty wonderful. "
Dianne Reeves
Cult
Musicians
Wonderful
" Jazz is such a living art form. It happens right in the moment. You weave a story by changing certain elements and components. "
Dianne Reeves
You
Art
Story
" Your voice is not your instrument. Your voice is the character that you build, your innermost feelings, the things that you want to say, and your instrument is the vehicle that you use to carry the message. "
Dianne Reeves
You
Voice
Say
" Brazilian music has been a part of almost every record I've done, and I'd eventually like to record an entire album of Brazilian music. "
Dianne Reeves
Album
Almost
Music
" I always say that improvisation is the utterance of one's spirit, and it dictates your life experience, and that's how you find your concepts and your way for painting your musical picture. "
Dianne Reeves
Life
Painting
Picture
" Oh my gosh, I love Jon Hendricks. "
Dianne Reeves
Oh
Gosh
I Love
" The biggest thing is, when I was coming up, the thing that made you wonderful was your uniqueness. People celebrated that. "
Dianne Reeves
You
Up
People
" Lizz Wright, we call her lovingly 'Amazing Grace.' She has a folk and gospel kind of approach to the music, and she writes beautiful lyrics and songs. She's like this balm that is really full and very rich and deep. "
Dianne Reeves
Music
Amazing
Beautiful
" My mother was really amazing and left me with a whole lot of treasures. I miss her terribly. "
Dianne Reeves
Mother
Me
Amazing
" The Confederate flag is a divisive presence - it's the opposite of everything my artistry means and represents. "
Dianne Reeves
Everything
Flag
Presence
" The music industry is changing. You only hear a sprinkling of big names, but there are a lot of really wonderful young musicians with great voices and lyrical content who have refined their sound. They're up in here, so don't think they're not. There's this wealth of talent below the surface that's ready to explode. "
Dianne Reeves
Talent
Musicians
Great
" I've always had really wonderful people around me. But early on, I remember I would walk into a session or go do something with some musicians, and they viewed me, basically, as their chick singer. "
Dianne Reeves
Me
People
Remember
" I look back at Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan, and especially Betty Carter, whom I admire the most, and I say, OK, they set a standard of excellence. I listen to them not for what they are doing, but to study where they are coming from because, for me, jazz is life experience. "
Dianne Reeves
Look
Experience
Excellence
" My musicians know all of my music, and so that makes for something different. "
Dianne Reeves
Different
Musicians
Music
" I think people have come to know that I am not comfortable in a box, you know, and that I love music. "
Dianne Reeves
People
Think
Love