“Music doesn’t lie. If there is something to be changed in this world, then it can only happen through music.”
Archive for category Music Quotes
Favorite Music Quote #10
Jun 28
Great Jazz Quotes
May 7
“Some days you get up and put the horn to your chops and it sounds pretty good and you win. Some days you try and nothing works and the horn wins. This goes on and on and then you die and the horn wins.”
Dizzy Gillespie
“Music is my mistress, and she plays second fiddle to no one.”
Duke Ellington
“Jazz is the only music in which the same note can be played night after night but differently each time.”
Ornette Coleman
“A great teacher is one who realizes that he himself is also a student and whose goal is not dictate the answers, but to stimulate his students creativity enough so that they go out and find the answers themselves.”
Herbie Hancock
“The bottom line of any country is, what did we contribute to the world? We contributed Louis Armstrong.”
Tony Bennett
Pablo Casals
Apr 20
Pablo Casals, at 95 years old, was answering questions one day. One of them went like this.
“Mr Casals, you’re the greatest cellist of the 20th Century, perhaps of all-time, and your career has been nothing short of spectacular. Why, at the age of 95, do you still practice 6 hours a day?
Casals answered, “Because I think I’m making progress.”
Pau Casals i Defilló (December 29, 1876 – October 22, 1973), known during his professional career as Pablo Casals was a Spanish cellist and conductor. He made many recordings throughout his career, of solo, chamber, and orchestral music, also as conductor, but Casals is perhaps best remembered for the recording of the Bach Cello Suites he made from 1936 to 1939.
Casals was an ardent supporter of the Spanish Republican government. After its defeat in 1939, Casals vowed not to return to Spain until democracy had been restored, although he did not live to see the end of the Franco dictatorial regime.
Thank you Dwight for emailing this quote to me a few years back.
Favorite Music Quote #9
Dec 30
“Music and rhythm find their way into the secret places of the soul.”
Plato
One day St. Peter was standing at the pearly gates checking people into heaven. The first man comes up and St. Peter “What did you do on earth?” The man says “I was a doctor.” St. Peter says “That’s wonderful…go right in.” The next man comes up and St. Peter says “What did you do on earth?” The man tells St. Peter that he was a research scientist and St. Peter says “that’s wonderful. Go right in.” As the third man comes up St. Peter says to him “And what did you do on earth?” The third man says “I was a musician.” St. Peter says “That’s great. Follow the fence around to the right, use the staff entrance and take the freight elevator up to the third floor….”
The kicker about this joke is how true it is–musicians know this well. In the ’80s I was playing tons of private parties and had gone through this routine 100′s of times.
Years back, I took a friend out for a birthday dinner at a fancy hotel in Santa Monica. I was driving into the hotel area so we could check in, when she said to me, “Where are we going?” I found this to be an odd question, when I looked around and saw that I was at the loading dock! Habits, habits, habits!
- The booking is definite
- Your check’s in the mail
- We can fix it in the mix
- This is the best dope you’ve ever had
- The show starts at 8
- My agent will take care of it
- I’m sure it will work
- Your tickets are at the door
- It sounds in tune to me
- Sure, it sounds fine at the back of the hall
- I know your mic is on
- I checked it myself
- The roadie took care of it
- She’ll be backstage after the show
- Yes, the spotlight was on you during your solo
- The stage mix sounds just like the program mix
- It’s the hottest pickup I could get
- The club will provide the PA and lights
- I really love the band
- We’ll have it ready by tonight
- We’ll have lunch sometime
- If it breaks, we’ll fix it for free
- We’ll let you know
- I had nothing to do with your marriage breaking up. It was on the rocks long before I ever met you
- The place was packed
- We’ll have you back next week
- Don’t worry, you’ll be the headliner
- It’s on the truck
- My last band had a record deal, but we broke up before recording the album
- Someone will be there early to let you in
- I’ve only been playing for a year
- I’ve been playing for 20 years
- We’ll have fliers printed tomorrow
- I’m with the band
- The band drinks free
- You’ll get your cut tonight
- We’ll supply someone for the door
- You’ll have no problem fitting that bass cabinet in the trunk of your car
- They’ll be lots of roadies when you get there
- It’s totally compatible with your current program
- You’ll have plenty of time for a soundcheck
- This is one of Jimi’s old Strats
- We’ll definitely come to the gig
- You can depend on me
Favorite Music Quote #9
Aug 26
“It’s taken me all my life to learn what not to play.”
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie [/gɪˈlɛspi/] (October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, singer, and composer.
Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz. He taught and influenced many other musicians, including trumpeters Miles Davis, Fats Navarro, Clifford Brown, Lee Morgan, and John Faddis.
In addition to featuring in the epochal moments in bebop, he was instrumental in founding Afro-Cuban jazz, the modern jazz version of what early-jazz pioneer Jelly Roll Morton referred to as the “Spanish Tinge”. Gillespie was a trumpet virtuoso and gifted improviser, building on the virtuoso style of Roy Eldridge but adding layers of harmonic complexity previously unknown in jazz. Dizzy’s beret and horn-rimmed spectacles, his scat singing, his bent horn, pouched cheeks and his light-hearted personality were essential in popularizing bebop.
Favorite Music Quote #8
Aug 25
“Music is the soundtrack of your life.”
Dick Clark
Richard Wagstaff “Dick” Clark (born November 30, 1929) is an American television, radio personality, game show host and businessman; he served as chairman and CEO of Dick Clark Productions, which he has sold part of in recent years. He is best known for hosting long-running television shows such as American Bandstand, five versions of the Pyramid game show, and Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.
Clark has long been known for his departing catchphrase, “For now, Dick Clark…so long,” delivered with a military salute, and for his youthful appearance, earning the moniker “America’s Oldest Teenager”, until he suffered a stroke late in 2004. With some speech ability still impaired, Clark returned to his New Year’s Rockin’ Eve show on December 31, 2005 and January 1, 2006. Subsequently, he has appeared at the Emmy Awards on August 27, 2006 and the New Year’s Rockin’ Eve show on December 31, 2006 and January 1, 2007, as well as in 2007/2008 and 2008/2009.
