Top 100 Big Band Quotes
#1. What music I listen to day to day changes very, very much. I can go from bluegrass to heavy metal, to blues, to classical and big band and then go to pop and rap.
Casey James
#2. I enjoy playing with a big band occasionally, but it's too restricting; you really don't have a chance to stretch out and do what you want to do. Getting that thing of relating to a large band is great experience; I relate much better, though, if it's a small band.
Art Pepper
#3. You always come back to Duke Ellington - he's kind of like the thread that holds everything together from the big band descending to lots of jazz, actually.
Herbert
#4. I grew up in a very musical family, my father was a musician and a big band leader and made records.
Billy Sherwood
#5. I still love recording and still love the stage, but like my dad, I have the most fun when I am in front of that glorious orchestra or that kick-butt big band.
Natalie Cole
#6. Their eagerness for the big-band music and their ability to grasp the essence of it made me realize that today's generation has not been properly exposed to the big-band sound.
Illinois Jacquet
#7. We became a band that was kind of a big band, kind of a band that quite uncool people listen to, people a lot like me. I've realized that's a much more beautiful fate than the plan I had.
Torquil Campbell
#8. It is very important to me that my songs can sound amazing with a big band or orchestra, but just as powerful and touching with just me and my guitar.
Tessanne Chin
#9. There's sort of an open offer to work with a guy in Los Angeles who does big band and orchestra arrangements who was at least an acquaintance to Les Baxter before he passed away.
Jello Biafra
#10. I still miss music and singing. One day, I'm going to sing with a big band.
Paul Eenhoorn
#11. When I'd hear something that sounded like I could follow it - most of those big band jazz tunes are blues anyway - I would hum it and play with the fiddle while I was humming.
Johnny Gimble
#12. It is not very practical in today's world when you tour all over the place having a big band.
Andy Summers
#13. When I write a tune - and it's been like this for many years - I always hear in the back of my head some sort of vague, orchestrated, fully fleshed-out big-band version of the song with other parts going on.
John Scofield
#14. My brother was always in bands and on the road when I was a kid and he was my inspiration. He never made it with a big band, in fact he never made a record. Here he is fifty-something years old.
Jimmy Chamberlin
#15. Then I left that school and I went to Cerritos College, which was in southern California; they had one of the best big band programs in the country at the time.
Bobby McFerrin
#16. I grew up in Detroit. So my mother always loved big band music.
Glenn Frey
#17. With my little band, I did everything they did with a big band. I made the blues jump.
Louis Jordan
#18. So I was always around music and my dad was in his own way a progressive jazzer, a big band jazzer guy.
Billy Sherwood
#19. Why don't you steal the pattern out of Kenton's '23 Degrees North, 82 Degrees West'?" the trombonist, an alumnus of Stan Kenton's big band, said.
James Kaplan
#20. Because usually in the past when I was in a big band, that was all I did.
Kathy Valentine
#21. In 2007, I studied with Peter Erskine because I was doing a Buddy Rich tribute concert, and I wanted to take my big-band drumming up a level. I went over to Peter's house with my sticks, feeling like a 13-year-old again.
Neil Peart
#22. When I first set up my big band, I only had Gilson Lavis, the drummer from Squeeze, with me. He was the core element. Whenever a group hits the big time, they always get a new drummer because they really need that. You can make do with rubbish elsewhere.
Jools Holland
#23. Being such a big band is never a problem but it can be distracting.
Chris Martin
#24. The Smashing Pumpkins was never meant to be a small band. It was going to either be a big band, or a no band.
Billy Corgan
#25. Living composers writing for big band are very few and far between. There are not a lot of them, and I have a talent for doing it. I am zeroing in on what I do best.
Carla Bley
#26. I've been saying for almost 20 years that I need to do a jazz project and it ought to be either big band or I should do some jazz songs with a trio or quartet.
Al Jarreau
#27. Since the big band started I'm just always swamped with movies and things. It certainly pays the bills and it's very satisfying, because I get to write all these big charts and all this crazy music.
Brian Setzer
#28. The patterns of big-band music are smooth and classical. It's got to be fresh. The brass section should crackle, like the sound of eggs being dropped into hot grease.
Illinois Jacquet
#29. I played Big Band jazz music. I wasn't into rock and roll. I was just there because it was a living. I surprised everyone. I'm still surprising people.
Bobby Vinton
#30. I love most melodic music - classical, reggae, big band, jazz, blues, country, pop, swing, folk.
John Lescroart
#31. The music I wanted to get into when I went to California, was to, uh, get into, uh, pop, mostly. And the big band era was on at that time. I was doing the "Mona Lisa"s, the "Stardust"s, "Stars Fell On Alabama," all this kind of stuff. And that was my thing that I wanted.
Carl Gardner
#32. When I got my band in 1983, I knew what I had to do. If I'm going to have a big band, they're going to have to sound equally as good as what I'm used to hearing.
Illinois Jacquet
#33. I mean, I don't think I would call Claus to do an album of big band tunes. You know, just like arrangers write for the artist they have in mind; you have to keep in mind if you're going to work with Claus Ogerman. You invite him to do what he does.
Diana Krall
#34. The Big Band Era is my era. People say, 'Where did you get your style from?' I did the Big Band Era on guitar. That's the best way I could explain it.
Chuck Berry
#35. Traveling with a big band is like being an inmate in a traveling zoo.
Hoagy Carmichael
#36. A lot of the music is the kind of thing I grew up with, listening to it with my parents. So there was a band in London called the BBC Big Band, and I sang with them. And I had never done a big band before, and it was just so fantastic and I had such a good time ... so that's how it all came about
Frances Ruffelle
#37. I started a big band when grunge was popular. I mean, that didn't make much sense.
Brian Setzer
#38. I like pop, rock n' roll, big band, Broadway - I like all those elements.
Scott Bakula
#39. I always told the people at Cal Arts that if they wanted me to do Jazz studies, first of all, there couldn't be a big band within 500 miles and that I could do what I wanted to do. And they said I could.
Charlie Haden
#40. Ella can work nightclubs that Duke might not be able to work, because of having the big band. Where they go now is strictly a matter of their own names and talents.
Norman Granz
#41. It was by listening to Goodman's band, that I began to notice the guitarist Charlie Christian, who was one of the first musicians to play solos in a big band set-up.
Alvin Lee
#42. My brother had a big band in high school; after that we continued to play together, eventually forming a group called the Jazz Brothers, that recorded for Riverside Records.
Chuck Mangione
#43. When I was playing piano, it was like, 'I'm going to write a song using all the white keys.' My music director, who knew my jazz background, suggested I try big-band music, so we spent a year experimenting with it in concert, and the audience reaction was really good.
John Tesh
#44. When I did the album for 'When Harry Met Sally,' I found myself out there in front of this big band, which I had no idea how to do, and they wiped the floor with me. It's a very specific skill, and I didn't know how to do it.
Harry Connick Jr.
#45. Once again, in the fine tradition of North Texas Lab Bands, this is truly a superb band. Under the artful leadership of Neil Slater, these great musicians have managed to combine small group "openness" with the swinging precision of a classic big band. Very enjoyable!
Michael Brecker
#46. I was a fairly good amateur musician, and I was an average professional. But the one thing I saw was that the big band business was fading.
Alan Greenspan
#47. I've always liked Frank Sinata and Big Band music.
George Strait
#48. I grew up with singers. My father's mother sang opera. My dad was a big band singer. I can't remember a time there wasn't music in the house, so I grew up listening to great songwriters - George Gershwin, Cole Porter - and my grandma was playing opera for me before I was 3.
J. D. Souther
#49. People always - when you rise, whenever you're getting to a point where you're a very big band, which is a very rare thing, there are always going to be people that aren't going to like you.
Adam Levine
#50. My mother was really into big band. It was played in the house all the time.
Suzy Bogguss
#51. When The Murderdolls started it was a really cool thing, especially for me because I had never done anything on that scale before. Even for our drummer and bass player it was their first really big band.
Wednesday 13
#52. If the song was upbeat, we'd get out a funky Harry Connick, Jr. album, some Louis Prima big band, or a Bob Wills swing record for inspiration and swing for the fence, hoping to get that 'soundtrack to your life' vibe. And if it was a slow song, we'd go the other way and really make it worshipful.
Bart Millard
#53. Something happened in the nineties. There was a shift. I don't want to blame it on grunge or the rise of indie - but that was basically it. It was seen as dirty and kind of ignorant to have these ambitions, to want to be a big band.
Brandon Flowers
#54. My dad was a huge big band and jazz fan, and we both sort of enjoyed be-bop, but man, it required so much skill to play it. And then there was cool jazz, the era that Miles, Coltrane, and Ornette ushered in, and that found a home in me. It turns out that that music was just really where I breathed.
J. D. Souther
#55. I grew up mostly with classical, big band, and a lot of Irish music - I really didn't start listening to rock and roll until I was maybe sixteen.
Moira Kelly
#56. I knew I wanted to be an actor for a long time, but I was based out of Chicago and then I went to New York and I did 'The Upright Citizens Brigade' out there. I had a two-man show with a guy named Oliver Ralli who's now in the band Pass Kontrol, which is a big band out of New York.
Jake Johnson
#57. The great thing about rock-n-roll is you realize the top of the mountain is big enough for more than one band.
Paul Stanley
#58. This guy kept telling us that rock was the big thing, everyone's talking about the big thing, our band was the big thing. So he made us change our name to The Big Thing. Can you believe that?!
Terry Kath
#59. Any accolades that anybody puts toward this band really makes me feel good, because I have devoted such a big part of my life to this band, making it what I want it to be.
Charlie Daniels
#60. Of course, no lyrics are ever unintentional, but I think bands like Wolf Parade and the Arcade Fire have a tendency to touch on big themes without really following through on them or tying them in to a particular logic.
Dan Bejar
#62. For two hours I'd felt myself stretching tighter and tighter, like a rubber band pulled to the point of snapping. And now, I could feel the smaller, weaker part of myself beginning to fray, tiny bits giving way before the big break.
Sarah Dessen
#63. I grew up in a school that had a big music program, and it was incredible. It's what I looked forward to during the day. I had chorus, strings, band.
Alison Krauss
#64. The stereotypical rock-star-trashing-a-hotel-room thing? Those days had passed by the time I was in a band big enough to do it.
Phil Collins
#65. For any band that ends up becoming really big, yeah, hard work has something to do with it, but a lot of it is just pure luck.
Kellin Quinn
#66. I don't think it's inherently wrong when bands do certain things - sometimes I'm really excited when I see a band has taken a big ad or sync.
Alex Scally
#67. Everyone's different, but it was fun for me to work with Garth Hudson. He's from 'The Band.' They are a massive influence, that was a big thrill. He's completely out of his mind.
Teddy Thompson
#68. I'm living the dream. I've got a big tour bus, an incredible band, a big house, and a family that are all taken care of through my music. I've got a beautiful wife and three beautiful kids.
Aaron Watson
#69. I never aspired to be in a band, but being onstage is a very cool feeling. It's like you're the lord of the room. It's hard to croon and run around doing big scissor kicks while also trying to play, though. I'm still mastering that.
Robert Sheehan
#70. Being on the road is like a campout. I'm the only girl. The guys in my band are like my big brothers. It's definitely an adventure, but it can be a nomadic lifestyle.
Kate Voegele
#71. I used to do this big rant at the end of some gigs with Ben Folds Five. The band broke into this big heavy metal thing and I started as a joke to scream in a heavy metal falsetto. I found myself saying things like: Feel my pain, I am white, feel my pain.
Ben Folds
#72. I wasn't really terribly familiar with the Beatles when I met George. They were just emerging. They certainly weren't as big as they became later on. I just knew them as a pop group, and that's all. I was keener on George as a man and a person, as opposed to someone in a band.
Pattie Boyd
#73. The Republican Party had a big day in yesterday's midterm elections and now controls the House and Senate. And don't ask me how this happened, but the Republican Party also gained control of three seats in our show's band.
Conan O'Brien
#74. The music, as predicted, blew big time. A live band was going to town up on stage, but really, how many times could they sing about could'a, should'a, would'a, and a dog before people's brains started to liquefy?
Nicole Williams
#75. The Animals were their own worst enemy. The Animals were a band that couldn't live up to their name. I was the singer in the band and as long as I was enjoying myself I would keep on working with the band. But it got to be rather nasty once the big money showed up - things started to turn toxic.
Eric Burdon
#76. We are diverse, big time. Sully is the main man, which makes sense as the lead man of the band. Tony and myself are quiet; I need to be begged to do these interviews (laughs). But it comes down to being a team, that is the main thing. Knowing, understanding and accepting our roles.
Robbie Merrill
#77. I've got quite a big gay following. I played a lesbian prostitute in the TV series 'Band Of Gold' but I think my following really grew when I played one in the film 'Imagine Me & You,' with Piper Perabo.
Lena Headey
#78. Bands are more willing to take risks and we don't need this big label over us anymore telling us what it means to sell records and get into magazines.
Mat McNerney
#79. It's a big shame, because 'Trixter' in my mind were what a real rock n' roll band is all about.
Steve Brown
#80. The Band never really played big concert tours. We never sold millions and millions of albums.
Levon Helm
#81. You know, with bands like Kiss back out on the road and Aerosmith coming out, we are going to be a band like that, in the sense that it's a big rock band.
Steve Brown
#82. Yeah, sci-fi is definitely a big influence on Fear Factory. I've had people tell me we always sing about the same thing but it's like well, if we were a black metal band we'd sing about Satan, you know? What if we were a Christian metal band? All the songs would be about how much we loved Jesus.
Dino Cazares
#83. Big companies are like marching bands. Even if half the band is playing random notes, it still sounds kind of like music. The concealment of failure is built into them.
Douglas Coupland
#84. The Beatles were just a band that made it very, very big, that's all.
John Lennon
#85. To go see a band in a big venue is a difficult experience. I don't really like that too much. I'm not a guy who puts on iTunes and goes, "Oh, what's hot!" I don't need to.
Andy Summers
#86. There's a band in the U.K. called Elbow. They're not that big in the U.S., but I think they're genius.
Jamie Lawson
#87. I actually don't care about his movies that much. I just want to twang that thong like a big elastic band.
Valerie Bertinelli
#88. Forgiveness is a big deal to Jesus, and like that guy in high school with a garage band, he talks about it, like, all the time.
Nadia Bolz-Weber
#89. We Irish don't really need thousands of people surging behind a big brass band to have a parade. One guitar player and a few people whistling will do the job.
Gene Tierney
#90. I like a little bit of everything. I think I'll put on Guns 'N' Roses or Rolling Stones any day. But recently I like a band called Bastille, or The Weeknd I'm a big fan of as well.
Steven R. McQueen
#91. I understand why there's a natural suspicion of the "Next Big British Band."
Gary Jarman
#92. I have to say that Dave's Grohl amazing too. You see all these interviews with him and he seems like the coolest and nicest guy on camera, but he really is when he's off too! I was fortunate enough to know him before he was a big rock star when I put out his very first band's album.
Reed Mullin
#93. We use a neck training machine where you can strengthen the muscles, going front to back, side to side. You can also connect a big resistance band to a wall or something and do the exercise like that.
Valtteri Bottas
#94. People don't seem to care about convictions any more. When I was a teenager, the deal was that, y'know, you had a band that you were really loyal towards, almost to a fault, and you stayed really loyal to that band. That was the whole thing, that was such a big deal.
Marnie Stern
#95. To me, Modest Mouse is one of the best bands ever. I actually wasn't surprised that they made it big. It's always weird to see it happen, and it happens so fast, all of a sudden songs are in the background on TV.
Doug Martsch
#96. Everyone in a band has a big ego - they love having pictures taken.
Giles Duley
#97. I had a kind of artrock band called Peanut for a while, which eventually helped me over my fear of singing. That was a big step for me. I never dreamed I could sing songs in front of people.
Withered Hand
#98. Josh is the guy in the band who's just so friendly and super, wanting to walk up to you and say, 'Hey, I'm Josh. I drum in this band, and I'm a big fan of you, and I really appreciate what you do.' Josh has all these great friends in the industry now.
Tyler Joseph
#99. I've had my successes and failures. I know many academics in my field loathe me. I've come to loathe them back, as it seems only polite to do so. But at heart it's absurd; we should band together against the big common enemies.
Alain De Botton
#100. I was in a band in Auckland, and I remember they all hated me. They had a big intervention. They said, basically, 'Gin, we think you suck.' I was miserable. I cried and cried. But looking back, that taught me about social skills and how to communicate with musicians.
Gin Wigmore
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