Ahmad Jamal Quotes
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You've got a big, big problem if you get caught up in what people say. If you're gonna live for what people say, you might as well lay down and forget it. Because it doesn't work that way.
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I believe in improvisation. All musicians improvise. Even Bach, Mozart and Beethoven improvised. Improvisation and freedom are synonymous. The goal of every musician is to be free, but freedom is rare.
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The quickest way to become troubled is to be concerned with what people are gonna say about your life and your work.
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I would like to be a scholar in whatever I do, a scholar is never finished, he is always seeking and I am always seeking.
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Many fail to realize this great recording industry was built by so-called jazz artists. And at the other end of the spectrum, a base in European classical music as well.
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I have a thousand melodies in my head, but I don't write them all down. I write down the jewels. So when I have a jewel I go into the studio. Jewels are hard to find--you have to dig.
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I'm a wordless storyteller, someone who cares about the dynamics of music...Musical dynamics are human dynamics.
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Jazz Improvisation means that practice is not as straightforward as it would be when you simply have a score to play.
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It's always exciting for me to sit down at the piano, and every time I do, something new happens, something surprises me, or I surprise myself. I played Poinciana last night and it was like a new song. That's the reason there's no such thing as old music. The wonderful thing about music is that it's ageless.
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I've tried every context imaginable, but the trio is the most demanding. It's very difficult to get an orchestral sound out the trio, but we do because I think orchestrally. The trio allows me a lot of space. I can play solo piano, duets with the bassist, drums and piano. Playing at optimum level is the challenge. What's necessary for me is establishing a meaningful statement musically; and my experiences dictate certain musical utterances; and my training and inherent sense of judgment all feed into this. I already know what is happening before I reach the bandstand ninety per cent of the time. The value lies in my skill to interpret a song. It may go better than I planned, in some instances, but it's not going to go any worse
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I listen to my own music now because I'm busy writing now--I started hearing some things--I'm writing all the time. When you write you have to listen. Writing music is very difficult. At a certain level the work begins to dictate itself. I write the piano score first, then I'll set down a bass line. Sometimes I'll give the bass the bottom and I'll play subordinate tones. I use very close harmonies. I like strong rhythmic ideas, too.
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You don’t create things, you discover things.