Diane Schuurs Quotes

Frank Sinatra and Stan Getz had been friends of mine, and I wanted to pay tribute to them.

As far back as I can remember, singing was in my blood. My parents loved music, and I loved to sing. I was scatting at an early age.

I try to just be grateful for what I have, and not [focus on] the things that I don’t have.

It’s been quite a journey. I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world!

I wrote “Pilot of My Destiny” because of my love of flying. The fact that my brother is a pilot inspired me to write it. I call him pilot. He calls me copilot.

I try to keep my ego at the right size. No matter what, I just do my best to live in an attitude of gratitude.

I met up with George Shearing about a year before my mother passed away. When I was 11 years old, Mama took me to the Edgewater Inn in Seattle and I was able to sit down and play piano for George and a lot of (the set list) was songs I had heard from the album, ‘Concerto For My Love.’ Then, after Mama died, my dad and I went to actually hear him perform at the Edgewater Inn when I was 12. Oh my gosh! It just really got me into playing piano.

I just remember always trying to emulate Dinah Washington, hanging out in my bedroom closet.

I was always exposed to music. Mom and dad would have the radio on constantly.

Jimmy (Wakely) told me, ‘I don’t want you to sound so much like Dinah Washington.’ So, I thought, ‘How can I get around this?’ And one of the people I really dug was Patti Page. So I thought, ‘Oh, I’m going to sound like her.’ I actually did with a couple curly-cues thrown in for effect, but, that’s how I started getting away from the predominant Dinah influence, and getting my own style together.

I’ve already done so much. The rest is just gravy, it’s like frosting on the cake

[on Frank Sinatra] He was a compassionate guy. He loved to have fun. He had a movie theatre in his house. We munched on popcorn and watched movies together.

Maybe the best is yet to come, but I’ve already had the best.

My career has been a combination of hard work and timing. Working with Stevie Wonder at the Kennedy Center Honors was timing. The Tonight Show was timing. Carnegie Hall, that was timing. My marriage was timing. I was ready, I wanted to know what it was like.

I was determined to succeed in what I loved to do. I wasn’t going to let my disability stand in my way.