Quotes About Artists

Our mind is the canvas on which the artists lay their colour; their pigments are our emotions; their chiaroscuro the light of joy, the shadow of sadness. The masterpiece is of ourselves, as we are of the masterpiece.

You're now getting a new breed of people like Il Divo and Andrea Bocelli and I think that's why people feel less intimidated by classical music than they once did.

I think people are intolerant of artists.

We were introduced to a lot of dance music that we were blown over by. Kidnap Kid we love, WOZ, and Rudimental.

Most white Americans only discovered the blues with the British invasion.

There are some seminal things that happened in the '70s for me: Billy Joel and Jackson 5.

I'm massively inspired by Janet Jackson, and I adore Whitney Houston and Madonna.

I listen to a lot of hip hop artists, and I think hip hop and poetry go hand in hand. The 'Def Jam Poetry' on HBO is just so sick to me.

In Japan, artists and fans are rather far apart from each other.

I'm a huge fan of Jay Z. I listen to a lot of Nas, a lot of 2Pac. I like to listen to people that make me think.

I grew up listening to Bob Marley, Jill Scott, Floetry, Nas, Jay-Z, Beyonce.

All the classic jazz players all sang and a lot of 'em sang blues.

Elvis might have compromised his musical style a bit towards the end, but that doesn't mean that artists from the rock n' roll/folk-roots culture - of which he was not really a part - shouldn't get better as they get older, like the great jazz or blues artists.

A lot of jazz artists think people should like what they're doing just because it's jazz. I don't buy that.

The enthusiasm, the adulation for us as jazz artists, in Kiev and Odessa was really heartwarming.

Anyway, you know, when Richard Meltzer said rock and roll died in '68, what he means is Jefferson Airplane were no longer his buddies, that's what he really means. He means it in a political way: that was when the artists and the audience found themselves on different levels.

I don't listen to Beyonce or Jennifer Hudson records.

As artists, we can help, visually and intellectually, to make people understand that, at some point, we have to accept that it is our collective impact that is putting the whole planet in jeopardy.

My influences were Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry.

I'm influenced by Django Reinhardt, Stephane Grappelly, Roland Kirk, John Coltrane, B.B. King, and then by bluegrass. But when I was 16, bluegrass wasn't cool. We was rock n' rollers then: Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis.

My influences are Alice in Chains and Elton John.

When it comes to the stage, I can't help but be inspired by people like George Clinton, Elton John and Alice Cooper.

I've always loved the blues, John Lee Hooker, Janis Joplin, Hendrix.

I spent many years trying to write a lot like Ben Folds or John Lennon or Rivers Cuomo. I think that's healthy when you're learning to write and seeing how chords fit together and how songs take shape.