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In composition you have all the time you want to decide what to say in 15 seconds, in improvisation you have 15 seconds.

Steve Lacy

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Steve Lacy
Improvisation
Composition
Seconds
Decide
Jazz
Music
Time

More quotes by Steve Lacy

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When I found the music of Monk I finally found music that fit that horn. Every one of his tunes fit it perfectly.
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I started in New Orleans music and played all through the history of jazz.
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If you listen to Louis Armstrong from 1929, you will never hear anything better than that really, and you will never hear anything more free than that.
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A young pianist & composer who has demonstrated an exceptional creativity, in both his playing & his writing, as well as showing us all, his very strong commitment & motivation to aim for high musical goals. Talent like his is rare.
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There is an awful lot of what I call recreational jazz going on, where people go out and learn a particular language or style and become real sharks on somebody else's language.
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Kenny G, I have to be grateful to him for proving that the instrument can be played all different kinds of ways.
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I still love the whole history of Jazz. The old things sound better than ever.
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Before the work comes to you, you have to invent work.
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Saxophone is one thing, and music is another.
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I've been working on the soprano saxophone for 40 years, and the possibilities are astounding. It's up to you, the only limit is the imagination.
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Jazz is like wine. When it is new it's only for the experts, but when it gets older everybody wants it.
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I wanted to be a pianist but it just wasn't my thing. I guess I wanted to stand up rather than sit down.
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Whoever has an original thing to say, it is sort of a threat to the status quo.
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Bamboo is not a weed, it's a flowering plant. Bamboo is a magnificent plant.
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I heard Sidney Bechet play a Duke Ellington piece and fell in love with the soprano saxophone.
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Nobody was playing the soprano saxophone and certainly nobody was trying to do anything with it. So I was all alone. I didn't know that at first.
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If you have music you want to play that no one asks you to play, you have to go out and find where you can play it. It's called do or die.
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The potential for the saxophone is unlimited.
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A jazz musician is a combination orator, dialectician, mathematician, athlete, entertainer, poet, singer, dancer, diplomat, educator, student, comedian, artist, seducer, public masturbator, and general all-round good fellow.
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Circumstances can be very important. Find the right people to work with.
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