Branford Marsalis

I like to make records sound good. I'm more like a reducer than a producer. If an artist cannot produce themselves, what's the point? ”

We played it as long as we could play it on that CD and I think it might be 50 minutes, maybe. What you have to do is play a couple of songs and then get off the stage because everything that trails it sounds stupid. ”

If it's not going to sound like Terrapin Station, what's the point of playing Terrapin Station? ”

The lion's share of what I hear right now are people who, intentional or accidental, have avoided all jazz prior to 1960. And all the musicians who were successful in the '60s spent their entire lives, prior to 1960, listening to all the musicians these people avoid. ”

One of the things that's clear to me from interviews that I've read is that the more popular successful jazz musicians had audiences above and beyond the music community. ”

A lot of musicians have a tough time hearing what we're doing in a trio format. ”

The piano is the X factor. People have a tough time following the structures when there's no piano there, spelling it out. It makes it more easily understood, particularly to people who don't know as much about music. ”

Pop doesn't really look back. It can't. What makes pop work is simplicity. ”

You hear it in your brain. Whatever makes sense. Some songs work well as quartet songs, sometimes they don't. ”

That's kind of like how jazz is sometimes. You're out there predicting the future, and no one believes you. ”