Just because I'm playing jazz I don't forget about me. I play or write me, the way I feel, through jazz, or whatever.
Charles MingusRead
My music is evidence of my soul's will to live.
Interpretation
The quote expresses that music is a reflection of one's inner self and a testament to the desire to exist.
Charles Mingus suggests that his music serves as an embodiment of his spirit and determination to live. Music, in this context, becomes more than just sound; it becomes a vital expression of one's emotions, battles, and the innate will for life. Each note and composition resonates with the depths of his experience, illustrating how art can serve as a powerful testament to human existence.
In practice
In a speech about the impact of art, one might use this quote to emphasize how music reflects our deep emotional experiences.
Just because I'm playing jazz I don't forget about me. I play or write me, the way I feel, through jazz, or whatever.
I am Charles Mingus, half black man, not even white enough to pass for nothing but black. I am Charles Mingus, a famed jazzman, but not famed enough to make a living in this society.
Jazz music is a language of the emotions.
Let my children have music! Let them hear live music.
I never heard my music played the way I heard it in my head.
It (jazz) isn't like it used to be. The guys aren't together. They're all separated. Individuals now. Bird was a symbol. It was a clique, a clique of people. Who all believed in one thing: gettin' high. And playin'.
I get thousands of letters, and they give me a feeling of how each book is perceived. Often I think I have written about a certain theme, but by reading the letters or reviews, I realise that everybody sees the book differently.
Well, the way I play, I try not to be a 'repeater pencil', ya dig? Originality's the thing. You can have tone and technique and a lot of other things but without originality you ain't really nowhere. Gotta be original.
I would love to see more women directors because they represent half of the population and gave birth to the whole world. Without them the rest [of the world] are not getting to know the whole story.
The kind of poet who founds and reconstitutes values is somebody like Yeats or Whitman - these are public value-founders.
I am a writer... I am a genius of a writer; I have it in me. I am writing the best poems of my life; they will make my name.
It was Chicago with its World's Fair which vivified the national desire for civic beauty.
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