Get QuoteDark Inspirational Quotes App

" I've worked with a number of big bands, but there's nothing in life like the Basie band. "

Related Quotes:

" I've tried to learn as much as I can about the great jazz singers to understand what makes them important, vital artists, but there is always something more to learn. "

" There's a wide spectrum of possibilities in how to deliver a song. "

" If you start to dwell on your pain, the amount of pain will increase. "

" It's pretty rare in jazz to have a full-on steady band. "

" It's true that I'm not known as a crooner or balladeer. I'm known for a more crusading or quixotic temperament. "

" I try to stick with things that I can sing with honesty. "

" Chicago has a burly, action-oriented but still self-assured and relaxed confidence to its stride. The city has a lot of wide-open space and all the possibilities that suggests. There's a lot of horizontal grandeur here. "

" I consider myself very fortunate. I have a beautiful wife who supports my work and is raising our daughter when I'm out on the road. "

" As improvisers, we're acting as composers in front of people. "

" There is an actor's responsibility in presenting the emotional content of the lyrics to an audience. But whether you do that in a straightforward fashion or an ironic fashion or a blase fashion is all about opportunities, and singers are missing opportunities as artists if they don't pay attention to the lyric. "

" Listening to something without being present is different from being there in the flesh. "

" Grammy nominations are certainly pleasant, but you can forget about them and lead a perfectly happy life - provided you have the approval of the musicians you work with. "

" Each of the CDs prior to 'Flirting With Twilight' were more like roller-coaster rides. "

" I try to sleep as much as I can. I drink a lot of water. I practice consistently and just try to be ready for the gig. "

" I haven't been afraid of John Coltrane or Miles Davis or Bill Evans or Wayne Shorter or Herbie Hancock. Why would I be afraid of the Beatles? "

" You work very hard on the lyrics. Getting them to fit the contours of improvised melodies. "

" I think of jazz as being homage through innovation. Don't quote that as a definition, but it comes pretty close. "

" Sometimes, with vocalese, I'm dealing with something, a great solo from the past, which is so iconic I can't presume to change it or mess with it. "

" You don't know what bravery is until you overcome fear. "

" You don't want to make records so you can win a Grammy. You make records because you want to be a musician. "

" It's a beautiful thing to have time in the world, as a singer and as a musician, to make friends with people of the musical caliber of a Tommy Smith, an Arturo Sandoval, a Richard Galliano, a Till Broenner. "

" I've got more low notes than I had when I started. "

" I didn't arrive on the scene until after Jaco Pastorius had passed, but 'Three Views of a Secret' is a long-time favourite of mine. "

" With a smaller setting, you have a lot more freedom and flexibility within a given moment, but not necessarily the velocity you have with a big band. "

" Salacious? I suppose every once in a while the salacious thing is not a bad thing. It's kind of monochromatic if that's all you do. "

" I've tried to educate myself in the world and what's beautiful and what has meaning and is lasting. Then I just follow my intuition and see how it fits. "

" I had everything to gain by giving it everything I could. "

" That's the thing: There are so many art songs in jazz. It's a much more rich experience for the singer than people think. "

" You can start from any source material, and you can approach it with a jazz ear, and then it will become a jazz moment. "

" When improvisation is properly applied, it is compositional thinking, sped way up. "