Musical Pioneer Quotes

I am convinced that 100 years from now, people will talk about Elliott Carter as one of the most important figures in the second half of 20th-century music.

Bowie is probably my favorite all-around songwriter and performer and personality. His ability to change over the years is such an inspiration. I love 'Young Americans' and 'Fame.'

[Prince] could very well be the Duke Ellington of Rock 'n' Roll.

He [Benny Carter] is all that every jazz musician the world over wants to be. He's performed 20,000 nights. How many shoes have been shined? How much mascara put on? Rouge? How many of those impossible bowties have been tied? How many love songs have been sung? How many dances have been danced? How many have passed to the sound of his music? It's been said that a man should not be forced to live up to his art. Benny Carter is one of the rare instances when we wonder whether the great art that a man has created can live up to him.

Few artists have influenced the sound and trajectory of popular music more distinctly, or touched quite so many people with their talent. A strong spirit transcends rules,' Prince once said - and nobody's spirit was stronger, bolder, or more creative. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, his band, and all who loved him.

There are a few things that I will hopefully be credited for as a pioneer. One is my four-mallet playing. Another one is the starting what was first called jazz rock in 1967 when I started my first band, later became jazz fusion by the 1970s.

There have been many accolades uttered about Elvis' talent and performances through the years, all of which I agree with wholeheartedly. I shall miss him dearly as a friend. He was a warm, considerate and generous man.

That Elvis, man, he is all there is. There ain't no more. Everything starts and ends with him. He wrote the book. But for him, I'd be selling encyclopedias right now. There have been a lotta tough guys. There have been pretenders. And there have been contenders. But there is only one king.

Todd Rundgren is a genius, and I don't use that word a lot.

Sad news- Prince is gone. Music has lost a great presence. A world less funky. I don't believe in it.

Thank you Prince for all of your inspiration and sharing your increadible talents with the world. You will be incredibly missed.

I thank God for Elvis Presley. I thank the Lord for sending Elvis to open the door so I could walk down the road.

I never said I was the King Of Rock'n' Roll. I said simply that I'm the best

In my eyes, there's no one better than Stevie Wonder. He's a top dude.

I contend that if it wasn't for Jimi, the gadgets we use for electric guitars now wouldn't have happened. He was an inventor, in a sense - as well as being great artist.

I think I'm an artistic radical, and I think I'll be recognized as one. I'm a really good musician and a songwriter, but I think my real legacy will be as a radical.

I didn't mean for it to cause such a furor, but I was the first guy to ever do the national anthem with a guitar. Everyone else had the big brass band. Nowadays it's tracks that they sing to, but in my day, we had no tracks. And I was the only orchestra that I knew that was the best orchestra and that was me and my guitar.

Obviously, Gaga's one of the greatest music visionaries of our time, and Beyonce is one of the greatest visions of our time. She is a music visionary, too.

James Brown really taught me a lot - his lyrics and his performance and whatever he does when he's onstage. I'll always call him a legend, and I'll always respect what he did.

On Nov. 5, 2012, my friend Elliott Carter died in New York at the age of 103. For me, he was and remains one of the most interesting figures of music history in the past century.

I'd like to be remembered as someone who wasn't satisfied with just one level of musicianship ... as someone who was a pioneer.

I do not use the word 'genius' lightly, but if David Bowie is not a genius, then there is no such thing.

Ray Charles, in his own way, it's like at the beginning, Ray Charles changed American music, not once but twice.

Benny [Carter] opened the eyes of a lot of producers and studios, so that they could understand that you could go to blacks for other things outside of blues and barbecue. He's a total musician. He was the pioneer, he was the foundation. He made it possible for that doubt to be taken away.

I think people have learned that Herbie Hancock can be defined as someone that you won't be able to figure out what he's going to do next. The sky is the limit as far as I'm concerned.