It was writing about music for NPR - connecting with music fans and experiencing a sense of community - that made me want to write songs again. I... →
Carrie Brownstein
Over the years, music put a weapon in my hand and words in my mouth, it backed me up and shielded me, it shook me and scared me and showed me the... →
To really be tortured by a song, it needs to be more than just something you don't like or don't get; it has to make your skin crawl by... →
Do you think Duke Ellington didn't listen to Debussy? Louis Armstrong loved opera, did you know that? Name me a jazz pianist who wasn't... →
Dave Brubeck
When you hear Bach or Mozart, you hear perfection. Remember that Bach, Mozart and Beethoven were great improvisers. I can hear that in their music.
The first choral music I remember hearing was Handel's 'Messiah' when the Mormon Tabernacle Choir broadcast it over the radio.
That's the beauty of music. You can take a theme from a Bach sacred chorale and improvise. It doesn't make any difference where the theme... →
I knew I wanted to write on religious themes when I was a GI in World War II. I saw and experienced so much violence that I thought I could express... →
When I was first aware that I couldn't read music I didn't know I couldn't read because I could play the music that was in front of me.
Jazz isn't dead yet. It's the underpinning of everything in this country. Whether it's a Broadway show, or fusion, or right on through... →