Wynton Marsalis Quotes & Sayings (Page 2)

“Trumpet players see each other, and it's like we're getting ready to square off or get into a fight or something.”

“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.”

“I'm not a person who writes really abstract things with oblique references. I look at abstraction like I look at condiments. Give me some Tabasco sauce, some ketchup, some mayonnaise. I love all of that. Put it on a trumpet. I've just got to have the ketchup and Tabasco sauce. That's my attitude about musical philosophy.”

“I have absolutely no idea what my generation did to enrich our democracy. We dropped the ball. We entered a period of complacency and closed our eyes to the public corruption of our democracy.”

“The nerves are a problem on trumpet, because when you mess up everyone can hear it. Just remember most people are too polite to say anything about it. That should calm your nerves.”

“Only a few act - the rest of us reap the benefits of their risk.”

“Don't settle for style. Succeed in substance.”

“It was Dr. King's tireless activism that fostered our modern way of relating to one another.”

“There are forces all around you who wish to exploit division, rob you of your freedom, and tell you what to think. But young folks can rekindle the weary spirit of a slumbering nation.”

“We looked up to our father. He still is much greater than us.”