23 Quotes by Wadada Leo Smith

I don't set out to win awards. I don't think any musician does, but when you receive an award, it's an affirmation: it means that people appreciate what you do. Every award I have received is a confirmation of something I have done, and that motivates me to push a little harder.

Seeing the bigger picture opens your eyes to what is the truth.

I'm an optimist. I have always been, and I will continue to be. So I believe there's always a possibility of transforming or changing or doing something different.

Everything and anything is valuable.

I always felt of myself as a composer, performer, improviser. I've never called myself a jazz man. I make art.

I have been in dialogue with my family about what can actually be done. We've come up with this philosophy that in a truly multicultural society, the only way to have liberty and justice for everybody is to have multiple parties. And by multiple parties, I mean 50 parties, not one or two.

Jazz infers a style, but creative music has a wider field and wider specification about it. We know it from people like Scott Joplin and on through Bessie Smith.

My solo playing utilizes the deployment of suggestive psychic rhythms. I'll state these throughout a given piece and play thematic improvisations on top of that. I like to suggest that rhythmic movement without always playing it. I like to create openings that I can step into.

I don't set out to win awards. I don't think any musician does, but when you receive an award, it's an affirmation: it means that people appreciate what you do.