Musician Quotes

As long as there are musicians who have a passion for spontaneity, for creating something that's never been before, the art form of jazz will flourish.

The bass, no matter what kind of music you're playing, it just enhances the sound and makes everything sound more beautiful and full. When the bass stops, the bottom kind of drops out of everything.

Even people who feel perfectly comfortable investing in the stock market and owning their own homes often have qualms about individual medical accounts or Social Security private accounts.

Americans believe that people should work hard and get ahead on their own, but when disaster strikes and they need help with retirement or disability, Americans as a whole should come to their aid.

I have done my time living on the run. I'm British and I want to come home.

I often play on the cello-bass side of the orchestra, because I prefer the deep sounds. I can't hear the violins well.

I like the sparkle of the vibraphone.

I just assumed the world was full of solo percussionists. I couldn't find sticks or music or anything where I was, but that was expected because there was nothing there anyway. And I think that was possibly the greatest asset for me, just not knowing.

I didn't decide to become a musician until the age of 15, which is quite late.

I associate going to an airport with work because I travel so much with my job. So when I have a few days free from work, I tend to stay at home.

I am really quite fascinated by echo-locating bats and dolphins and have always wondered how sound affects the unconscious brain.

Hearing is a form of touch. You feel it through your body, and sometimes it almost hits your face.

Hearing is a form of touch. I could hear less through the ears but more through the body.

Concerts have to be seen as a real event for which the aim is to try and feed everybody.

As we live longer and healthier for longer, we need to keep ourselves busy... the diary is pretty full.

Anything you strike, anything you shake or rattle, or just anything that can be picked up, and you can create a sound.

And as I grew older, I then auditioned for the Royal Academy of Music in London, and they said, well, no, we won't accept you, because we haven't a clue - you know - of the future of a so-called 'deaf' musician. And I just couldn't quite accept that.

A lot of things which come with a high profile will always be criticised one way or another.

A large part of my work has been collaborating with composers; I think we've commissioned about 140 pieces now, a lot of them percussion concertos.

Percussion is the most adaptable family of instruments. The biggest challenge is to project percussion in a lyrical way.

My favorite instrument is the snare drum. In Scotland, the snare drum is very prominent in Highland bands. The Scottish style of playing is in my blood. It's a very powerful instrument, but it can also be soothing, like velvet. It's a real challenge for composers.

I suppose I don't hear things, but I listen, if you know what I mean. And there is a big difference between hearing and listening. So it's like a conversation, you know. When you speak to someone, it's one on one, and that's exactly how I play.

Before my teen years, I was losing my hearing pretty quickly, and I was getting very, very angry. I was beginning to become an angry person because of that.

Apart from Scottish traditional music, I wasn't really influenced by any kind of music. I just basically followed my own instincts.

The thing about playing percussion is that you can create all these emotions that can be sometimes beautiful, sometimes really ugly, or sometimes sweet, sometimes as big as King Kong and so on. And so there can be a real riot out there, or it can be so refined.

Music is about communication... it isn't just something that maybe physically sounds good or orally sounds interesting; it's something far, far deeper than that.

Society cannot continue to disable themselves through their need to categorize people or make assumptions as to another individual's abilities.

I love out-of-the-way, rugged places. For me, holidays are about the experiences, and the people, and the memories, rather than sitting on a nice beach getting tanned. I try to plant myself where I am and embrace what is there in front of me.

I hope the seeds I have sown will be taken up by those who will follow me because the journey I have begun cannot be undertaken in isolation.

Holidays are about experiences and people, and tuning into what you feel like doing at that moment. Enjoy not having to look at a watch.