All the money in the world is spent on feeling good.
Bad music can make you weak.
Everything you do is challenging, hopefully, because if it's not, it's boring.
Musicians understand each other through means other that speaking.
No second chances in the land of a thousand dances, the valley of ten million insanities.
You have to be around people you trust; otherwise you can't do anything - you're afraid, you're paranoid, and you can't do any work.
Most folks, when they see movies or hear records, need something that they find pulls them in, draws them in, and appeals to them beyond just the notes. For a record to be memorable and great, it has to have something of this quality. Exactly what that is, I don't know, but I think it has something to do with an atmosphere, an environment that is appealing and attractive. And the people that inhabit this environment have... almost a message for the rest of the world.
You're not born with certain skills; you have to acquire them.
You have to be able to improvise and respond to what's going on around you. Then you might get a good piece of work done.
Some things I like to do better than other things, but I've got to say that in the end, the thing that makes it the most interesting for me is who you're with, you know? It's people that make the difference in just about any field, right?
In oddball places, the electric guitar has been taken as an almost alien object - this weird, six-stringed instrument that fell down to earth and was then played loud but with traditional grace and intelligence
Beautiful tunes are all very good and fine, and great musicians are always great, but that alone isn't enough.
Musicians communicate in other ways. That's just something you rely on.
I just feel that music is a great life, because it's very rewarding. It's a gratification. You do this for yourself, and you also do this for other people.
I always think you should push your envelope every chance you get.
These musicians, such as these Cubans in Havana, are a part of a scene that did produce great music and great musicians. They came from this tradition, so it's a good place to look. It's like prospecting: You gotta know where to look.
The environment is rarely put on tape, or if it is, it's so abstract that most people never realize it. They just don't know what it means. But if you can show it to them, then that's what becomes the main instrument.
You should try to do something if you think you can see your way clear.
Something has to happen between you and the public, some interface that lets the public in on what you're doing.
Los Angeles is not Mexico City, but we have many fine nightclubs and restaurants here. It is enough. One must not aim too high.
Musicians are not so concerned with language.
There are those who make music and movies in a linear way: They plan them, they have a script. Of course, you have to have a script sometimes, but that alone isn't enough.
You can make records from now 'til doomsday, and there are something like 50,000 records released every year, but the public gets to hear very few of these. They just won't know. They might be great records, but how in the world is the public supposed to find out about them?
If you think you fit into a situation, it's worth trying.
Needless to say, you've got to have someone who can speak for you.
