[Practicing is] very tedious and easily becomes tiresome… but when it really gets on my nerves, that’s when I know I should keep on with it. – Philly Joe Jones, Down Beat Magazine, March 1959
Category: very occasional quote of the day
Very occasional quote of the day: practicing
I don’t think I’ve practiced two hours in 20 years. But it’s different with me than it is with a lot of younger guys, because I’ve been playing practically every night for 20 years. If […]
Very occasional quote of the day: loud and musical
“I am comparatively a heavy drummer. I like to play heavy, and I play forceful, and sometimes I tend to get loud, and it might be overbearing because I’ve seen some customers who sit close […]
Very occasional quote of the day: trust and magic
Experienced drummers have found that they’ve got a feeling inside them that they’ll follow through with. You’ve got to follow those feelings and trust yourself. If it’s wrong— and there isn’t any wrong, I don’t […]
Very occasional quote of the day: real foundation
“My real foundation came from Joe Morris’s rhythm and blues band. It had two books, the rhythm and blues book and a good, swinging book. I really got my power in this band. When you […]
Very occasional quote of the day: Shelly on Buddy
Manne: What I resent is the drummer who falls into the trap of becoming obsessed with the technical aspects of the drums —you know, playing all these figures that come from rudiments. It becomes a […]
Very occasional quote of the day: rehearsal with Charlie Parker
“I’d say, ‘Well, what am I supposed to do?’ He’d say. ‘Oh, you know what to do.’” – Max Roach, Down Beat Magazine, November, 1978, interview with Bret Primack
Very occasional quote of the day: inferiority complex
“I wasn’t altogether emotionally ready for the gig. I was only 18, and going through what a lot of young musicians go through, because I teach now and I can see it. It’s a paranoid […]
Very occasional quote of the day: play
“What you should do is to play every chance you get. If you are not on a steady job (six nights a week), then rehearse with units as often as possible. But, by all means, […]
Very occasional quote of the day: correct
“Screwing things up is a virtue. Being correct is never the point. Being right can stop all the momentum of a very interesting idea.” – Robert Rauschenberg
Five interviews with Paul Motian
It’s not no deep fuckin’ secret! People talk about this shit like it’s some kind of… – Paul Motian From jazz writer Ted Panken, several unedited interviews with Paul Motian— he posted this in 2014, […]
Very occasional quote of the day: a gig
“A remember when I was 15 or 16 [in about 1940], I used to work Coney Island sideshows. I worked a place called Darktown Follies and we would literally play 18 shows a day. Can […]