Benny Green Quotes & Sayings (Page 2)

“He would catapult you forward, and that was his intention with the Jazz Messengers. He would take young people with a potential and help them develop a voice as a player and as a writer.”

“We have fun, we listen to one another, we challenge one another, we trust one another. We're doing what we enjoy, and we're not just playing for each other, we're playing for the people.”

“Ray had so much love of life and the music. He had so much integrity. He treated the music with so much dignity and respect. I spent four and a half years as a sideman with Ray Brown's trio. Music was his life, more so than anyone I could mention.”

“No, that's not it. The first time we met was at Fat Tuesday's. Benny was playing, this was, I think in 1989?”

“Actually, I've had very little classical training, although I love listening to classical music very much.”

“I don't really have a lot of hobbies. I listen to a lot of spoken word. I get books on tape.”

“Prior to that, I had associated this music with older people, like my father.”

“I didn't know when I was growing up that this was a very special program, that this wasn't going on in other parts of the country. Now I realize that I was lucky.”

“I'm naturally going to react to that and he'll bring out elements in my musical character that were lying dormant, because I'm relating what he's playing.”

“The first jazz pianist I heard was Thelonious Monk. My father was listening to an album of his called 'Monk's Dream' almost every day from the time I was born.”