What if you think of something to play that doesn’t have a standard technique? That’s what jazz cats have been doing since jazz was born. All of a sudden, you want to play something that […]
Category: very occasional quote of the day
Very occasional quote of the day: epic
From Hal Galper on Facebook: “I’d heard a recording of an interview with Coleman Hawkins that stuck in my brain. He said you had to go to the city twice. The first time to learn […]
Very occasional quote of the day: go ahead
“Don’t be afraid. Go ahead and play.” – Charlie Parker, quoted by Miles Davis, interview by George Avakian
Very occasional quote of the day: relationships for leaders
“The only thing that is really important in your relationship with actors is that they must know that you admire them, that you admire their work, and there’s no way to fake that. You must […]
Very occasional quote of the day: leading and musical direction
People in a band have a tendency to fall into ruts. They hear things only one way. They don’t really want to change that much. The guitar player will only play guitar a certain way. […]
Very occasional quote of the day: better ideas
You know, there are no bad ideas. Only better ones. Let’s not say, “That wouldn’t work” or, “That’s a stupid idea.” If it’s a stupid idea, the rule is we don’t judge, we just keep […]
Very occasional quote of the day: excitement
MD: You use a lot of dynamics and have a beautiful touch. JW: I’ve worked very hard on that lately: just getting the quality of my sound together. It’s not that I don’t want […]
Very occasional quote of the day: interesting
“It may sound like an extremely obvious thing to say, but I think it is worth saying nevertheless that when you are making a film, in addition to any higher purpose you may have in […]
Tailoring the game to your talents
An extended quote from the book Moneyball, about the baseball player Scott Hatteberg, and his approach to hitting, and his experiences with the lavishly funded Boston Red Sox and the meagerly funded Oakland As organizations: […]
Very occasional quote of the day: movies
“[T]here is so much to love in movies besides great moviemaking.” – Pauline Kael, Movie Love Kael was a movie reviewer for the New Yorker magazine through the 70s and 80s. I think most of […]