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The way to learn the language is to rip off other players. As Benny Golson told me, We all start off sounding like other cats. And gradually, a lick here or there,we start to sound like ourselves. But it takes a long time to do so... That'swhat he told me, and it worked for me.

Branford Marsalis

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Branford Marsalis
Age: 64
Born: 1960
Born: August 26
Actor
Composer
Jazz Musician
Saxophonist
New Orleans
Louisiana
Like
Takes
Sounding
Start
Gradually
Sound
Cats
Learn
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Language
Players
Long
Worked
Benny
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Time
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More quotes by Branford Marsalis

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I don't care who likes it or buys it. Because if you use that criterion, Mozart would have never written Don Giovanni, Charlie Parker never would have played anything but swing music. There comes a point at which you have to stand up and say, this is what I have to do.
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There's not one Tin Pan Alley song on my record.
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If I were like a lot of other people, then it wouldn't be fun but since I'm like me, it's okay.
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If it's not going to sound like Terrapin Station, what's the point of playing Terrapin Station?
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That's kind of like how jazz is sometimes. You're out there predicting the future, and no one believes you.
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The piano is the X factor. People have a tough time following the structures when there's no piano there, spelling it out. It makes it more easily understood, particularly to people who don't know as much about music.
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Jazz is so incestuous that it's starting to kill itself.
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What is jazz? It, It's almost like asking, What is French? Jazz is a musical language. It's a musical dialect that actually embodies the spirit of America.
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If youre going to use standards as criteria for signing musicians, you can sign thousands. If youre going to use some sort of conceptual interpretation thats based on the tradition of those standards, but is trying to move away from it, youre down to about 10 people or so.
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A lot of musicians have a tough time hearing what we're doing in a trio format.
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The biggest problem with American music right now, is that kids don't listen. They come by it honestly, Americans don't listen anyway. When people go to concerts, they say I'm going to see... not, I'm going to hear.
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When you're dealing with music without words, titles are more a means of identification than anything else. What's the point of getting lofty?
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So much of Jazz doesn't have an audience other than music students or musicians.
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If you listen to a lot of the songs that are popular now, there's very little melody in there. People love the beat. But to musicians, it's melody, because we understand how elusive it is and how hard it is to hold.
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I think that if you keep banging at the door all you need is a little foothold, a little tiny foothold, and then the rest will take care of itself.
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It's hard to get into Newsweek because, as more of our former intellectual magazines take on a pop focus, if there's no buzz, there's no interest.
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The whole point is, give me a break with the standards. You go to the average jazz label and suggest a record and they want to know which standards you're going to play. I'm saying let's break the formula.
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It's something that jazz has gotten away from, and it's unfortunate. Players aren't physical anymore.
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My job is to write songs that have emotional meaning to me.
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Everybody talks about finding your voice. Do your homework and your voice will find you.
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