Musicians like to converse. There’s always interesting conversation with musicians – with classical musicians, with jazz musicians, musicians in general. – Wynton Marsalis
There’s always the cliche of the choir shouting and clapping. OK, you have to do that, but there’s also introspective parts, parts where you just follow someone that’s preaching. There’s lots of different emotions and moods that a service requires. – Wynton Marsalis
My father is a jazz musician, so I grew up hearing jazz. My parents loved it, but I didn’t like it. It went on for too long. Yes, I had certain teachers that really inspired me, like Danny Barker, and John Longo. And I had no idea that I would have any impact on jazz. – Wynton Marsalis
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?’ – Wynton Marsalis
There is an idea that a mind is wasted on the arts unless it makes you good in math or science. There is some evidence that the arts might help you in math and science. – Wynton Marsalis
I grew up in the South, in New Orleans, where guys torture you all the time. So I didn’t really grow up on the self-esteem campaign. When you were lousy at something, they told you you were lousy, and they told you how to fix it. – Wynton Marsalis
Through improvisation, jazz teaches you about yourself. And through swing, it teaches you that other people are individuals too. It teaches you how to coordinate with them. – Wynton Marsalis
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. – Wynton Marsalis
We always hear about the rights of democracy, but the major responsibility of it is participation. – Wynton Marsalis
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? – Wynton Marsalis
The main three components are the blues, improvisation – which is some kind of element that people are trying to make it up – and swing, which means even though they’re making up music, they’re trying to make it up together. It feels great, like you’re having a great conversation with somebody. – Wynton Marsalis
My thing is, once you start to put a backbeat on your music or something that has a machine in it, you have popularity, but you lose the flexibility. And you lose a richness. – Wynton Marsalis
Maybe the preoccupation with technological progress has overshadowed our concern with human progress. – Wynton Marsalis
When you create change with your point of view, you have to be ready for what comes with that. – Wynton Marsalis
My older brother and myself always played together in bands, but we never knew we would be professional musicians. – Wynton Marsalis
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. – Wynton Marsalis
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. – Wynton Marsalis
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. – Wynton Marsalis
I almost never watch TV, except for ’60 Minutes’ and pro football. I love Drew Brees, the Manning brothers and the Steelers’ linebackers. – Wynton Marsalis
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. – Wynton Marsalis
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. – Wynton Marsalis
Through first-class education, a generation marches down the long uncertain road of the future with confidence. – Wynton Marsalis
Everything comes out in blues music: joy, pain, struggle. Blues is affirmation with absolute elegance. It’s about a man and a woman. So the pain and the struggle in the blues is that universal pain that comes from having your heart broken. Most blues songs are not about social statements. – Wynton Marsalis
