Occupation: Musician Birth: July 30, 1945
In regard to music, I just think that it's always best to have an attitude of being a perpetual student and always look to learn something new about ….
I tend to play in a way that feels natural to me. To me that's authentic for myself. I play by where I'm led by some sense of where I feel I'm suppos….
When I make records, I never listen to stuff after it's done. Ever..
In most of the stuff that I've done over the years as a sideman, I wasn't really a session musician, because to me, a session musician is a guy who m….
Music is just kind of an expression of who I am. It's what I do..
To me, the object of practicing is to allow you to play what you hear. But you're always hearing new things, so you never get to the end of it..
As a melody instrument player, it's all about getting from one note to the next, and those intervals and how you navigate your way through these vert….
I just kinda like playing. I don't necessarily go on tour to promote my albums. I'm on the road all the time. The fact that I have a new record is ou….
When you have an acoustic bass in the ensemble it really changes the dynamic of the record because it kind of forces everybody to play with a greater….
I have pretty ecumenical tastes. I'm interested in a lot of different kinds of music, so I don't listen with a jaundiced ear to music because it's in….
Instrumental music is increasingly marginalized and there's just no outlet, there's no venue for it, in terms of media..
Instrumental music is increasingly marginalized..
I think that that's the way the music grows and changes and becomes new and creative and vital. It's by synthesizing elements from all around it and ….
Its all about finding the right note at the right place and knowing when to leave well enough alone. And that's a lifelong quest..
Ninety-nine percent of the music that was of any interest to me when I was growing up came out of the black community..
You're only as good as your last record..
You never get it figured out. You just keep playing..
I'll just sit at the piano a lot an play like through different chord exercises and kind of just throwing my hands down on the piano from one chord t….
My name is on the thing, but the reality of it is, when I get up there on stage, I'm part of a band. I'm part of a unit. It's like a basketball team..
I think 'Horace Silver' was actually the first live jazz group I ever heard back when I was a kid in St. Louis. So along with most players of my gene….
Jazz music by its very nature is just a conglomerate of a lot of different kinds of music..