Gerry Mulligan quotes
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“What I came back to is that jazz is a music to be played and not to be intellectualized on.”
-- Gerry Mulligan -
“It's true I've always been attracted to the jazz band in an orchestral way, rather than a band way.”
-- Gerry Mulligan -
“Life on the road is murder. It's as though life begins and ends when you have your horn in your mouth.”
-- Gerry Mulligan -
“You start way down on a low B flat on the tuba and you have a chromatic scale; you can match the colours all the way up, till you get to the top of the trumpet.”
-- Gerry Mulligan -
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“Now, the instrumentation in the jazz band and the jazz dance band has gone through many evolutions. For instance, in the 'twenties the tradition was two or three saxophones”
-- Gerry Mulligan -
“The Russian composers, especially, tricked the symphony orchestra into the kind of dynamic, rhythmic thing”
-- Gerry Mulligan -
“I would think, of all the saxophones, the baritone would be the most logical instrument if anybody was adding a voice to the symphony orchestra.”
-- Gerry Mulligan -
“Actually, when I was very young, first starting to play, I think I probably listened more to clarinet players than to saxophones.”
-- Gerry Mulligan -
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“The baritone can serve functions that the alto and tenor cannot, in orchestral voicing”
-- Gerry Mulligan -
“People are approaching electronic levels in music; although not all of it happens to tickle my fancy”
-- Gerry Mulligan -
“You can make a saxophone into an electric organ; you can do everything with it”
-- Gerry Mulligan -
“The other saxophones, except as solo instruments, really don't have much point in the orchestra”
-- Gerry Mulligan -
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“The recording industry has changed; they're enjoying such incredible success in the pop field”
-- Gerry Mulligan -
“Only the French, I guess, really use tenor and alto to any great extent in the orchestra”
-- Gerry Mulligan -
“So I played alto for quite a while until I saved up the money for the baritone”
-- Gerry Mulligan -
“When I began listening to saxophones, I was first attracted to Coleman Hawkins”
-- Gerry Mulligan -
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“New York is still where I live most of the time.”
-- Gerry Mulligan -
“Then, of course, I played alto and tenor, wherever there were jobs.”
-- Gerry Mulligan -
“The first reason for starting to do the symphony concerts was to play this new piece of mine.”
-- Gerry Mulligan -
“Eliminating the piano means that I've always worked closer with the bass than most players.”
-- Gerry Mulligan -
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“Actually, it is a fact that I've been doing more writing than playing in recent years.”
-- Gerry Mulligan -
“Because if you've got the wit, you can make anything into a melody, ultimately.”
-- Gerry Mulligan -
“I like what I hear other guys doing, but the thing that really attracts me is melodic playing.”
-- Gerry Mulligan -
“I'm fascinated with the electronic devices that we can mess around with.”
-- Gerry Mulligan -
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“I've always wanted a C trumpet on top, to have that same kind of facility without shouting.”
-- Gerry Mulligan -
“I've appeared on some other people's albums.”
-- Gerry Mulligan -
“In a way, I started out to be a baritone player.”
-- Gerry Mulligan -
“If you've only got one horn playing, I still want the sense of ensemble.”
-- Gerry Mulligan -
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“Miles Davis is one who writes songs when he plays.”
-- Gerry Mulligan -
“This life of being a transient human being has gotten to a point when it's very hard to bear”
-- Gerry Mulligan -
“When we've finished the current tour I'm going to go back to Italy and see if I can do some more writing.”
-- Gerry Mulligan -
“People talk about innovations and evolutions and that kind of thing; I don't understand about that nonsense. It's like, all instruments are there to use all the time”
-- Gerry Mulligan -
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