Joshua Redman

In the 1990s, with Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, those really big female artists were very glamorous, it was all about the glamour at that time. And so there was a big switch, the desire to be more who you were, not so beholden to this whole standard of beauty. It was a liberation. You see Mary J Blige – she did the same, wearing the combat boots.

Any particular style of playing which represents an authentic way of musical feeling is genuine expression.

I never had a chance to play with dolls like other kids. I started working when I was 6 years old.

Jazz is America’s classical music.

There are some people that if they don’t know, you can’t tell them.

Listening is more important than anything because that’s what music is. Somebody is playing something and you’re receiving it.

When Jazz broke through in England, I remember sneaking to listen on the radio much to my parent’s disapproval.

If you want to be a musician, study your craft. Study music.

There are a million good tunes.

It made no sense to ignore them and to continue writing as if they did not exist. I felt that it was worth the effort to see if I couldn’t say what I had to say in the simplest possible terms.

Jazz is about being in the moment.

True music must repeat the thought and inspirations of the people and the time. My people are Americans and my time is today.

Django Reinhardt was fantastic. he must have been playing all the time to be that good.

To be a true artist you have to play the way you feel not the way others think you should feel.

I’m trying to get people to see that we are our brother’s keeper. Red, white, black, brown or yellow, rich or poor, we all have the blues.