Top Branford Marsalis Quotes - Quotesmemo.com

Branford Marsalis Biography

Branford Marsalis

Branford Marsalis (born August 26, 1960) is an American saxophonist, composer and bandleader. He has been cited as "arguably the most respected living U.S. jazz instrumentalist". While primarily known for his work in jazz as the leader of the Branford Marsalis Quartet, he also performs frequently as a soloist with classical ensembles and has led the group Buckshot LeFonque.

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Branford Marsalis Quotes

There's not one Tin Pan Alley song on my record.

Pan, Record, Records, Song, Tin, Tin Pan Alley

Jazz is so incestuous that it's starting to kill itself.

Music, Jazz, Starting, Incestuous, Kill

It's hard to get into Newsweek because, as more of our former intellectual magazines take on a pop focus, if there's no buzz, there's no interest.

Culture, Focus, Intellectual, Magazines, Take

One of the things that I loved about listening to Miles Davis is that Miles always had an instinct for which musicians were great for what situations. He could always pick a band, and that was the thing that separated him from everybody else.

Band, Listening, Musician, Situations

We have something that is unique. We have our craft. We have our art. We have our desire.

Art, Craft, Desire, Unique

I gave up my base in popular culture when I left the Tonight Show.

Base, Culture, Gave Up, Left, Tonight

One of the things that's clear to me from interviews that I've read is that the more popular successful jazz musicians had audiences above and beyond the music community.

Community, Halloween, Interviews, Successful, Things

My job is to write songs that have emotional meaning to me.

Emotional, Jobs, Music, Song, Songs, Write

You know, being America, being the land of "number ones", everyone wants to be a leader before they follow.

America, Everyone, Follow, Land, Leader, Numbers

So much of Jazz doesn't have an audience other than music students or musicians.

Audience, Jazz, Music, Musicians, Students

There is not a sentence in the world that could respectfully do justice to the life and music of Jerry Garcia.

Garcia, Jerry, Justice, Respectfully, World

The lion's share of what I hear right now are people who, intentional or accidental, have avoided all jazz prior to 1960. And all the musicians who were successful in the '60s spent their entire lives, prior to 1960, listening to all the musicians these people avoid.

Hear, Jazz, Listening, People, Prior, Successful

What is jazz? It, It's almost like asking, What is French? Jazz is a musical language. It's a musical dialect that actually embodies the spirit of America.

America, Asking, French, Like, Musical

You don't know what you like, you like what you know. In order to know what you like, you have to know everything.

Everything, Jazz, Like, Music, Order

We all played bad before we played good.

Bad, Good, Played

I like to make records sound good. I'm more like a reducer than a producer. If an artist cannot produce themselves, what's the point?

Artist, Like, Producer, Records, Sound

My dad was a musician, it was just what he did, like another guy's dad drives a meat truck. Our house was normal. We weren't taken with the fact our dad was a musician.

Dad, Drives, House, Taken, Truck

I'm not going to play funk licks on a jazz album. That makes no sense.

Albums, Jazz, Licks, Play, Sense

We played it as long as we could play it on that CD and I think it might be 50 minutes, maybe. What you have to do is play a couple of songs and then get off the stage because everything that trails it sounds stupid.

Couple, Long, Play, Song, Stupid

You hear it in your brain. Whatever makes sense. Some songs work well as quartet songs, sometimes they don't.

Brain, Hear, Sense, Sometimes, Song, Work

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