Cynthia Robinson Quotes

'Black Radio' was pretty much a jam session.

All the folks I play with come from jazz backgrounds or at least appreciate spontaneity within the parameters of a pop song.

When I was coming up, a lot of serious jazz players couldn't stand funk.

There are no great jazz-fusion bands.

My father was incredible on trumpet and played with the likes of Duke Ellington and Count Basie.

The first LP, 'Inner Mounting Flame,' is, of course, one of my favorites, and also 'Visions of the Emerald Beyond.' But the others are also very dear to me.

Thundercat put me on to George Duke.

We've now got a whole generation of jazz musicians who have been brought up with hip-hop. We've grown up alongside rappers and DJs; we've heard this music all our life. We are as fluent in J Dilla and Dr Dre as we are in Mingus and Coltrane.

'Kind of Blue' is one of the best records of all time. Miles' use of space is something rap fans can definitely appreciate. Sometimes you have to let the track breathe and throw a melody in here and there. He never did too much on 'Kind of Blue.' It's the perfect vibe.

Jazz scares me. I've witnessed so many incredible singers and jazz musicians. Pop and soul music have always been the things that I felt like I could do.

I remember playing Billy Cobham's 'Total Eclipse' for Snoop Dogg. I also played him Frank Zappa, 'Apostrophe.' And I played him 'Saint Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast.'

Jazz musicians are the coolest people on the planet. Can I have some cool?

We always feel pretty creative as far as writing songs. We write them together; we just get in a room, or on occasion in Flea's garage. We just sort of improvise, like jazz musicians.

In some ways, jazz is the most precise of art forms and the loosest in the sense that it's all about improvisation, but the musicianship required is kind of insane. To actually play with real jazz musicians is a different level of musicianship that almost has no equal in any other form of music in the world.

I'm a trumpet player, and I sing jazz.

So I went into jazz and performed in jazz clubs all over the country.

Jazz is the last refuge of the untalented. Jazz musicians enjoy themselves more than anyone listening to them does.

This is what really makes real jazz musicians: people coming out with their own voice.

I listen to anything anyone gives me. I always go back to a few basic favorites. I can always listen to Django Reinhardt and hear something I haven't heard before. I like to listen to Art Tatum and Coltrane and Charlie Parker. Those are guys who never seem to run out of ideas.

Being jazz-trained, things happen spontaneously. Even though it's funk rock, we still have the instincts of a jazz musician.

We play rock & roll, but we swing when we play. We want that ongoing flow, that lightness, that forward rush of jazz.

I wasn't into jazz so much - I preferred things raw.

I loved Art Tatum! And, through him, and other different jazz musicians, I actually found my technique.

I always leaned toward free jazz... experimental jazz and progressive jazz. I feel like jazz is just part of the flavor and palette that you have as a musician to experiment with.

I love classical jazz.