Brian McKnight

I think the one thing that I’ve learned is that you cannot predict what’s going to happen. You can’t sit back and try to figure out what people want or leave it up to them to decide. When we all started in this business we would dictate to the audience what was great and they picked up on that based on the fact that we believed that it was great. But that’s all changed. What’s happened in the last ten years or so because is that the technology now means that everyone with a computer can make music and I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not.

People don’t like when you point out to them and remind them that they’re not very smart.

Know the business; you need to know the business side of things.

I listen to all kinds of songs. There’s something to be learned from every type of music and from the one making it, whether it’s pop or jazz or hip-hop.

I think I’d have to say my favorite IWC. They have been around for so long and the craftsmanship is top notch. A watch maker that has been in business over 100 years has to know what they are doing.

I’m creating music – it doesn’t matter if anyone else likes it.

By and large, jazz has always been like the kind of a man you wouldn’t want your daughter to associate with.

Jazz improvisation is the art of collective negotiated expression.

I get interested in the various ways that music is being done in the culture, and some of it I like thoroughly enough to want to learn about it. The way I have been successful at doing that is to become part of it.

I don’t get jazz. It always sounds like a bunch of toddlers let loose in a music room.

The only award I’ve ever worked for or wanted really were the ones that were given to me by the fans. So, whether it’s a platinum record or hit songs, those are the ones that last the most.

I hate to think of Jazz as black and white, something political.

When you know the lyrics to a tune, you have some kind of insight as to it’s composition. If you don’t understand what it’s about, you’re depriving yourself of being really able to communicate this poem.

Music is my mistress and she plays second fiddle to no one.

If you’ve only got one horn playing, I still want the sense of ensemble.

I’ll be writing songs till I die. There’s just no question.

I went through a lot of mental pains and anguish about choosing between jazz and classical. I realized that where I functioned was where I should be, and where I functioned was in jazz, so that was it.

External instruments are only extensions of the biological instrument.

I like people who have worked long and hard, developing through introspection and dedication.

I play whatever the hell comes out… that’s it.

I am a writer – that is what I am before being a performer or musician. I love waking up in the morning and then going to sleep that night with something that did not exist.