"Flexibility is an essential part of Jazz. It's what gives Jazz music the ability to combine with all other types of music and not lose its identity."

Wynton Marsalis Art See all quotes by Wynton Marsalis →

React to this quote

More by Wynton Marsalis

“Some stances are just conducive to swinging. If I stand up straight for too long it's harder to swing. Plus my feet hurt.”

“The reason why the music is important is that it's an art form— an ancient art form— that takes in the mythology of our people.”

“I had a trumpet, but I didn't want to be a trumpet player. I wanted to be some type of athlete or in some type of scholarly activity, be a chemist or something—I had my little chemistry set, and I like playing with it.”

“I think that virtuosity is the first sign of morality in a musician. It means you're serious enough to practice.”

“They take your drawers off for you, they show your ass, they sell bullshit, they call themselves 'niggaz' and the women 'bitches' and 'hos' and it's fine with everybody. That's what the essence of decadence is.”

Resonant Thoughts

"Biographies smack of the end, the final utterances. Mission accomplished. I, by contrast, am always at the start of some new path or other. I want more. More, more. I am given to excess. It would be a…"

— Augusto Boal

Politics1932–2009

#art

"I never think about what another actor would do with the part. I only think about what I would like to do. In other words, I start very unconventionally. The actors that I typically don’t care for are…"

— Ted Raimi

Entertainment1965

#justice

"Poetry is an art form that demands heightened attention and retention. It both invites and rewards more intense involvement than we normally give to other kinds of speech. Poetic technique, therefore,…"

— Dana Gioia

Literature1950

#life

"The Comte de St.-Germain...His linguistic proficiency verged on the supernatural. He spoke German, English, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, French with a Piedmontese accent, Greek, Latin, Sanskrit, Arab…"

— Count of St. Germain

Philosophy1691–1784

#books