Rhythm Section Quotes

• Women and rhythm-section first!?

  Jaco Pastorius

  Music, Bass Players, Firsts

  35 Copy quote

• My ego only needs a good rhythm section

  Miles Davis

  Ego, Needs, Rhythm

  "Milestones: The music and times of Miles Davis since 1960". Book by Jack Chambers, Beech Tree Books. p. 261, 1983.

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• I think that the rhythm sections, drummers in particular, are the unsuing heroes of the music. It's the rhythm section that has changed the styles from one period to the other.

  Max Roach

  Hero, Thinking, Style

  34 Copy quote

• The heart of a music is its rhythm. The heart of rhythm section music is the rhythm.

  Wynton Marsalis

  Heart, Music Is, Rhythm

  "Wynton Marsalis Toots His Own Horn". Interview with Miles Marshall Lewis, www.ebony.com. October 8, 2013.

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• Catch Harry Belafonte. He's got a helluva rhythm section.And so have the Pointer Sisters. And that little guy with Sammy Clayton. He plays the whole show with 40 members.

  Miles Davis

  Play, Guy, Littles

  Source: hepcat1950.com

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• When I started off in Wales, I sang and accompanied myself with guitar in the '50s. And then I got a band together, which is a rhythm section, really. I used to do a lot of blues, and rhythm and blues, and '50s rock 'n' roll and country, and all kinds of stuff.

  Tom Jones

  Country, Rocks, Guitar

  "What's new, Tom Jones? The hitmaker is still finding more things to sing about". Interview with Roger Catlin, www.washingtonpost.com. September 15, 2016.

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• I usually write from the rhythm section...If a drummer got a funky beat on some things - like a half-shuffle or a shuffle or a backbeat that's even - I can write something.

  Miles Davis

  Writing, Half, Drummer

  Source: hepcat1950.com

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• Then, you know, the other more-traditional role of the producer in, like, the kind of Quincy Jones sense is kind of part arranger. So you're coming up with, like, these - you hear these songs that are quite bare-bones, and you dream up what's the band doing? What's the rhythm section doing? What's the guitars, strings, pianos - that sort of thing. It's almost like a little toolbox.

  Mark Ronson

  Dream, Song, Guitar

  "The Story Behind Mark Ronson's Hit Song 'Uptown Funk'". "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross, www.npr.org. December 31, 2015.

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• There are five of us. We've all played in various bands together, in different combinations. I know that Todd [Cook] and Tony [Bailey] are my favorite rhythm section - they're just like a unit. I guess we've all just played together in various capacities, so when the band was coming together, it was sort of like we just chose members because they had similar sensibilities and also because they're just cool. We all got along real well.

  David Pajo

  Real, Together, Different

  "Dead Child". Interview with Stephen M. Deusner, pitchfork.com. April 22, 2008.

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• It was a matter of not seeing the woods for the trees. Glorious songs have been in Ireland forever, but a lot of these were so popular they were sung only by drunken men at weddings. They didn't have any regard for the song at all. So, I picked out 14 songs that I had grown up with, songs with great melodies. After 35 years as a songwriter, I appreciate the value of a good melody because I know how hard it is to write one. So I presented them in a new way, with piano, keyboards, strings, and a contemporary rhythm section. I just treated the melody with a bit of dignity and a bit of style.

  Phil Coulter

  Song, Writing, Men

  6 Copy quote

• My nails are my rhythm section when I'm writing a song all alone. Some day, I may cut an album, just me and my nails.

  Dolly Parton

  Song, Writing, Cutting

  "Dolly Parton: Gee, She's Really Nice". Interview with Roger Ebert, www.rogerebert.com. December 7, 1980.

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• What makes that record special is something that is gone from music today - it's called a rhythm section.

  Jim Dickinson

  Special, Gone, Records

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• If the rhythm section is really swinging it's such a great feeling - you just want to laugh!

  Emily Remler

  Inspirational, Laughing, Feelings

  6 Copy quote

• And I like messing around in the engine room of music. Seeing what happens in the rhythm section area.

  Bill Bruford

  Rooms, Rhythm, Areas

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• I have a West Coast rhythm section and a New York rhythm section. I've got them spread out all over the place.

  Marian McPartland

  New York, West Coast, Rhythm

  "Marian McPartland At 86". Interview with Lazaro Vega, www.allaboutjazz.com. July 22, 2004.

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• I can always tell if a band has a British rhythm section due to the gritty production.

  Kanye West

  Band, British, Rhythm

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• The hardest thing for a musician to learn is how to play WITH people. That's what made the Basie rhythm section.

  Jo Jones

  Music, Play, People

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• CSPS is a breath of musical fresh air. With a whale sized hooks and neck wrenching riffs you’ll have more than you need to fall head first into this band’s fanbase. Take a listen and see what all the fuss is about. I’m sure that if the bone tight rhythm section doesn’t lock you in, the finely spun lyric and melody will surely ensnare even the pickiest of musical palette.

  Brett Hestla

  Fall, Air, Whales

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• Guitarists should be able to pick up the guitar and play music on it for an hour, without a rhythm section or anything.

  Joe Pass

  Funny, Inspiring, Music

  29 Copy quote

• I like to play fast. I get excited, and I have to sort of control myself, restrain myself. But when the rhythm section gets cooking, I want to explode.

  Johnny Griffin

  Play, Control Myself, Cooking

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• I always felt as a horn player, a jam session wasn't satisfying enough for me. I should have been a rhythm section player, actually.

  Lee Konitz

  Player, Should Have, Horny

  11 Copy quote

• The thing that I always notice that dates a record is the rhythm section. With a good arranger the music can be timeless. But, rhythm can change, because heaven knows, we didn't know rock was going to come in, did we?

  Peggy Lee

  Rocks, Heaven, Records

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• New Year's Eve, we're going to be doing a concert with the Philadelphia Orchestra in Symphony Hall. It makes me feel good, because of all the people they could have had, they wanted me! We do have to do a little work with the rhythm section.

  Barbara Cook

  New Year, Years, Symphony

  4 Copy quote

• With horns and a full rhythm section, the drums always looked like the best seat in the house.

  Levon Helm

  House, Horny, Horns

  9 Copy quote