Wynton Marsalis Quotes

35 quotations by Wynton Marsalis

Whenever you face a man who's playing your instrument, there's a competition.

When I first came to New York everybody on the scene would treat me like I could play, but I couldn't.

When I auditioned for my high school band the band director was excited because my father was known to be a great musician. When he heard me, he said 'Are you sure you're Ellis's son?'

What, other than injustice, could be the reason that the displaced citizens of New Orleans cannot be accommodated by the richest nation in the world?

What I really have in my head, my imagination, my understanding of music, I never really get that out.

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

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

This rebuilding of New Orleans gives us the perfect opportunity to see if we're ready to extend the legacy of Dr. King.

There was one thing Beethoven didn't do. When one of his string quartets was played, you can believe the second violin wasn't improvising.

There really have only ever been a few people in each generation who step out, are willing to put themselves on the line, and risk everything for their beliefs.

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.

The young very seldom lead anything in our country today. It's been quite some time since a younger generation pushed an older one to a higher standard.

The rebuilding of New Orleans is an important point in the history of the United States.

The first time I ever played the trumpet in public, I played the Marine Hymn. I sounded terrible.

The best way to be, is to do.

Thank the good Lord for a job.

People have taken time out of their day and spent their money to come sit down at a concert. And it's jazz music-it's not easy for them to get to it. I don't want them ever to feel that I'm taking their presence lightly.

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

My older brother and myself always played together in bands, but we never knew we would be professional musicians.

My daddy expected that my brothers and I and our generation would make the world a better place. He had lived in an America of continual social progress.

Many a revolution started with the actions of a few. Only 56 men signed the Declaration of Independence. A few hanging together can lead a nation to change.

Jazz is not the kind of music you are going to learn to play in three or four years or that you can just get because you have some talent for music.

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

I wanted to make somebody feel like Coltrane made me feel, listening to it.

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.

I got my first trumpet when I was six years old, from Al Hirt. My father was playing in Al Hirt's band at that time.

I feel like a lot of the fundamental material, I've assimilated. So now the question is: Am I going to really get into my spiritual inheritance of music and really develop my abilities?

I didn't want to get that ring around my lips from practicing the trumpet, because I thought the girls wouldn't like me. So I never practiced.

I believed in studying just because I knew education was a privilege. It was the discipline of study, to get into the habit of doing something that you don't want to do.

I believe in professionalism, but playing is not like a job. You have to be grateful to have the opportunity to play.

I always read all these books about the slaves. My mother is very educated. My father would talk to us like we were grown men. We never knew what he was talking about half the time.

Even in these times, there are still neighbors that will turn their backs on neighbors.

Don't worry about what others say about your music. Pursue whatever you are hearing... but if everybody really hates your music maybe you could try some different approaches.

Don't wish for someone else to do later what you can do now.

Don't settle for style. Succeed in substance.