Diane Schuur

I’ve worked with jazz artists, country artists, classical artists, pop artists. I never wanted there to be categories, because when I was a kid there weren’t.

I don’t believe that a lot of the things I hear on the air today are going to be played for as long a time as Coleman Hawkins records or Brahms concertos.

That’s a great thing about jazz. We leave it a little space so that we have the opportunity to go where the moment takes us

If you like an instrument that sings, play the saxophone. At its best it’s like the human voice

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.

Is there a meaning to music? Yes. Can you state in so many words what the meaning is? No.

I don’t worry too much about the fundamentalist principles that are in almost any discussion about Jazz.

And if I had a preference, it would be to be able to not be in the studio until 4 in the morning.

I wanted to sustain a note like a singer. I wanted to phrase a note like a saxist. By bending the strings, by trilling my hand – and I have big fat hands – I could achieve something that approximated a vocal vibrato. I could sustain a note. I wanted to connect my guitar to human emotions. By fooling with the feedback between my amplifier and instrument, I started experimenting with sounds that expressed my feelings, whether happy or sad, bouncy or bluesy. I was looking for ways to let my guitar sing.

If it sounds good and feels good, then it IS good!

Jazz music is a language of the emotions.

I played in rhumba bands, mickey mouse bands; all kinds of bands.

Play it f**kin’ loud!

Music’s been around a long time, and there’s going to be music long after Ray Charles is dead. I just want to make my mark, leave something musically good behind. If it’s a big record, that’s the frosting on the cake, but music’s the main meal.

You can have the greatest player in terms of mastering an instrument and be yawning your head off.