Many of our greatest musicians abandoned all of their aesthetic objectives to try to become pertinent. And, at the end of the day, they never became pop stars. I counter stated that very strongly, and I continue to do that.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the struggle musicians face between artistic integrity and commercial success.
Wynton Marsalis reflects on the choices musicians make when they prioritize mainstream appeal over their artistic vision. He argues that many talented musicians have sacrificed their aesthetic goals in an attempt to gain popularity, yet ultimately fail to achieve the status of pop stars. This highlights the tension between authenticity in art and the desire for commercial relevance.
In practice
In a speech about artistic careers, one might quote Marsalis to illustrate the conflict between artistry and commercialism.
Swing is extreme coordination. It's a maintaining balance, equilibrium. It's about executing very difficult rhythms with a panache and a feeling in the context of very strict time. So, everything about the swing is about some guideline and some grid and the elegant way that you negotiate your way through that grid.
Jazz music is the power of now. There is no script. It's conversation. The emotion is given to you by musicians as they make split-second decisions to fulfill what they feel the moment requires.
The blues. It runs through all American music. Somebody bending the note. The other is the two-beat groove. It's in New Orleans music, it's in jazz, it's in country music, it's in gospel.
In Jazz, improvisation isn't a matter of just making any ol' thing up. Jazz, like any language, has its own grammer and vocabulary. There's no right or wrong, just some choices that are better than others.
My daddy thought - no, he expected - that my brothers and I and our generation would make the world a better place. He was correct in his belief because he had lived in an America of continual social progress, depression followed by prosperity, segregation by integration, and so on.
New Orleans had a great tradition of celebration. Opera, military marching bands, folk music, the blues, different types of church music, ragtime, echoes of traditional African drumming, and all of the dance styles that went with this music could be heard and seen throughout the city. When all of these kinds of music blended into one, jazz was born.
Art, in itself, is an attempt to bring order out of chaos.
To me, photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event.
I don't see myself in terms of artifice. I see myself as a real person who chooses to live my life in an open way - artistically.
In some ways, my gift for music and writing was born out of tragedy, really, and loss.
Whether you like it or not, a child really connects you to that time when everything's new. It's so important - not just for artistic endeavors, but for humanity.
The artist committing himself to his calling has volunteered for hell, whether he knows it or not. He will be dining for the duration on a diet of isolation, rejection, self-doubt, despair, ridicule, contempt, and humiliation.
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