Get QuoteDark Inspirational Quotes App

" When I was in junior high school, I knew I really wanted to sing. "

Related Quotes:

" My foundation is jazz. I do all the things jazz musicians do. "

" I did a project called 'Sing The Truth,' which was a lot of fun. It started out being a celebration of the music of Nina Simone, and it was me and Lizz Wright and Angelique Kidjo. "

" The thing that I tell young people is everybody is unique in their approach to the music, and you have to protect that. "

" My mother would say, 'Stay ready so you don't have to get ready.' I spent a lot of my early years preparing for beautiful moments that have unfolded in my life so far. "

" In high school, we had a really great jazz program that I finally was able to be a part of. They only wanted instrumentalists; they didn't want any singers. But I made my way in, and I remember the conductor of the band wrote a lot of arrangements and asked me what I wanted to sing. "

" One of the things that I love about Sarah Vaughan is that she was always very current. "

" Even in a world with much sadness, at its essence, life is beautiful. "

" I've always liked a lot of different kinds of music. "

" I think the only way for you to grow and evolve is to keep listening, keep moving forward, keep jumping in and trying to experience. "

" I feel proud of my journey. I wouldn't change it. "

" I'm a great cook. People have asked me to do a cookbook. "

" Jazz onstage is a very intimate exchange between everybody that's onstage. "

" 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.' "

" I really enjoy going out with my jazz group. That's something that I don't ever want to stop doing. "

" I have a sketch of an idea and I never really talk about: perhaps do another jazz record, but with other elements involved. "

" I love New York City because there's something to do 24/7, something that will make you see things in a whole different light. Like they say, it's the city that never sleeps. "

" My junior high school teacher, Bennie Williams, was really more than a music teacher. She taught us poetry. She helped us put on school shows. She did all these kinds of things to help us stand in each other's shoes, and it was a really powerful time. That's when I discovered that I could sing. "

" I love Denver. "

" Nina Simone is a musical genius and a rich and precious treasure who paid a heavy price for her artistic freedom. "

" I think an artist who has it in their heart to do or say something, they'll say it. It's not something that's mandatory, but it will come out. "

" The music we do is weaved together through stories and life experiences. When people come to hear us, I hope they are are uplifted and that we give them a lot to take home. "

" I believe that music should really be without boundaries. "

" The biggest thing is, when I was coming up, the thing that made you wonderful was your uniqueness. People celebrated that. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" I have one closet that's just shoes. The woman go, 'Amen,' and the men go, 'Oh my God.' It's color-coordinated from the ceiling to the floor, from evening to casual. "

" I never called myself a jazz singer. I just call myself a vocalist because I love to sing all kinds of things. "

" 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. "

" I think people have come to know that I am not comfortable in a box, you know, and that I love music. "

" 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. "