Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
I can't imagine a more ideal life.
I'm an R&B and pop singer as well as a jazzer.
Once you discover that you can, then you must.
I am inspired by all kinds of players and singers.
I'm this strange kind of fusion of jazz, pop, and R&B.
I sang do-wop on the street corner before it was called do-wop.
I really do see it as the start of the second half of my career.
You have to make a decided effort to not get seduced by the Blues.
I am a distance runner, a marathoner... literally and figuratively.
I love connecting with the audience, and there's more ways than one to do that.
I have serious hearing loss. I'm challenged if I don't have my hearing aids in.
I'm saved every day by the intrinsic value of the work I do, which I truly enjoy.
I've got an odometer on my voice that has out-odometered an odometer on an automobile.
I have been with the record company and Tommy was there doing records with other people.
Before I get out of bed, I am saying thank you. I know how important it is to be thankful.
You know, I think in some kinds of ways, we are all born into stuff that gives us no choice.
I love Sly Stone and James Brown and Stevie Wonder, and I want my music to reflect some of that.
I'm touched by rock n' roll. I'm touched by the Beatles. I want some of the music I do to reflect that.
I'm walking every day and just staying kind of fit, and try not to have too many bad habits. Keep it minimal.
It's a wonderful thing to have life and to look at all this creation and say thank you. I even say it on stage.
The work must be its own reward. I got that early on. And I'm blessed by meeting my own standards of excellence.
I'm touched by Jon Hendricks. I want some of my music to reflect that. And when I write, you're going to hear it.
I came here with something in me that I inherited from my folks. So I'm going to do something called life and times.
I would still be singing, because it's part of my heart and my soul, and it lifts me up. Find something you would do for free.
Every day is Thanksgiving for me, man. Yeah, I still have an audience, and they ask the local promoter, "When is Al coming back?"
I was really learning my craft as a jazz singer and working with some great players and all, really growing and feeling my wings.
Every day is Thanksgiving.On this stage you're going to hear God and none of them other words, and I ain't going to touch my stuff.
It is a very serious consideration for a lyricist to step in there and suggest the meaning to a song. The music is speaking for itself.
Music is such a balm. Always has been. It's such a heartbeat, like blood thrumming through the womb. That's why music appeals to people.
I know more polkas than Frankie Yankovic. I grew up next door to the Polka Tavern in Milwaukee. I can sing some polkas. And proud of that.
I did a concert at five years old in the garden of one of the church members, and we raised some money to buy a new piano in our little church.
Jazz told people about the special music that came out of America and about America in general and this kind of liberty and freedom that we have.
I've thought about doing it as soon as it is possible with this new CD getting some wings and getting out there. I don't know how soon that will be.
I don't know where we got the notion that God wants us to suffer. Every living thing tends toward the good or we would have been gone a long time ago.
We are just fanatics about using the technology to make it all wonderful. We laughed at the fact that we were having such a great time working this way.
I say what's on my mind and have a good time. I try to give people a show. It's all about giving people a good time once you get out under those lights.
My dad graduated seminary there, and so did (sounds like) Mark Kimball's grandfather. They sang in a quartet together, my dad and Mark Kimball's grandfather.
I've been saying for almost 20 years that I need to do a jazz project and it ought to be either big band or I should do some jazz songs with a trio or quartet.
I want to give the audience the whole package, and for me, the whole package is to give them something fresh as well. It's not as much fun resting on your laurels.
More live recording. I have missed the boat over my career by not doing every second or third CD live because things happen onstage that don't happen in the studio.
That's the way I try to live. I think it's the only way for human beings at this point in our evolution as souls, where everyone in their lifetime is going through stuff.
I watched Elvis Presley become - I listened to Elvis Presley. I watched Chuck Berry become. I listened to Little Richard. I heard that music, and it was part of my upbringing.
Every good gospel singer you can hear is a scat singer; they're just using different syllables. There are a lot of jazz singers out there, and more coming out of the churches.
I think a singer is an athlete. I've always tried to stay fit. Until my knee said, "Uh-uh," I was jogging. Then I started walking. They don't like walking a lot, but I'll push them.
It's always been about making music. I've never gotten caught up with the trappings. You can't get caught up in the limousines and the chicks. The most important thing is the music.
It's all background experience and listening and exposure. That's why it's so important for people today and during any time to expose your children to lots of different kinds of things.
My mother and father come from that post-Depression, middle-of-World-War -I kind of thinking that says, 'Find a practical job. You know what I mean, Mr. Big Shot? So, you can sing a song ...'
To sing the ballad with a knowingness about what you are talking about. If it's somebody else's lyric, and the message is a little unusual for you, it requires that you learn that new message.
Jazz brought this sense of democracy where four guys come together and your name may be on the marquee, but in this moment, when you're the soloist, it's you, and we follow you. We follow you.
I slept fourteen feet from a polka tavern as a kid growing up. I heard polkas all night long, people singing and drinking beers and having a great time. I know more polkas than Frankie Yancovic!