Stefon Harris famous quotes

03-28-2025

Every â€˜mistakeâ€™ is an opportunity in jazz.
-- Stefon Harris

#Mistake #Opportunity #Jazz
I love Amsterdam. The city is vibrant and alive. It's fresh and so open. It's definitely one of my favorite places.
-- Stefon Harris

#Cities #Alive #Amsterdam
The bandstand is an incredible space. It is really a sacred space. One of the things that is really sacred about it is that you have no opportunity to think about the future, or the past.
-- Stefon Harris

#God #Past #Opportunity
If you listen to the way I speak, I have a lot of rhythm, use a lot of accents. When I'm playing my instrument, that concept comes through very clearly.
-- Stefon Harris

#Way #Use #Speak
I listen to a lot of singers, because I find phrasing to be one of the most essential elements of playing.
-- Stefon Harris

#Singers #Essentials #Elements
What happens when an art form becomes ambiguous, I think, is that the standards are lowered. You can say anything is jazz. So I think it's important to reflect on what made jazz so special.
-- Stefon Harris

#Art #Thinking #Important
Ultimately, what we do as musicians, I think of us as a type of emotional engineer. We essential take these sound waves, this sound, and we organize it into emotion, and that's how we connect with our audiences.
-- Stefon Harris

#Emotional #Thinking #Essentials
One of the things I'm adamant about as a bandleader is not micromanaging. I'm an advocate for the concept of allowing everyone to be fully vested in what they're doing, so everyone contributes whatever they're inspired to contribute.
-- Stefon Harris

#Micromanaging #Inspired #Adamant
I don't really see huge barriers between any styles of music.
-- Stefon Harris

#Style #Barriers
I taught myself to read music at a very young age, so when I started to take lessons in school, the teachers used to give me other instruments to keep me busy, because I was more advanced than the other kids.
-- Stefon Harris

#Teacher #School #Kids
Being at home with my family always inspires me. I find it hard to be inspired when I'm on the move. I'm not creative when I'm jet-lagged and sleeping in strange hotels.
-- Stefon Harris

#Moving #Sleep #Home
I grew in the inner city, listening to Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, James Brown, The Commodores - lots of soul music.
-- Stefon Harris

#Cities #Soul #Listening
I'm a spa person. Massages keep me relaxed, so I always try to make time for them when I tour.
-- Stefon Harris

#Trying #Massage #Making Time
Miles Davis is a major influence of mine in terms of the way that I am as a bandleader.
-- Stefon Harris

#Way #Influence #Miles
Italy has great food and Barcelona has great energy
-- Stefon Harris

#Energy #Barcelona #Great Food
It's about being here in the moment, accepting one another and allowing creativity to flow.
-- Stefon Harris

#Creativity #Flow #Moments

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