Yusef Lateef Quotes

• External instruments are only extensions of the biological instrument.

  Yusef Lateef

  Music, Jazz, Instruments

  51 Copy quote

• Loveless moments are to be avoided.

  Yusef Lateef

  Moments, Loveless, Avoided

  13 Copy quote

• The fact is ones own voice is not heard anywhere else. Its a challenge to be yourself. It takes a lot of courage.

  Yusef Lateef

  Being Yourself, Voice, Challenges

  14 Copy quote

• When the soul looks out of its body, it should see only beauty in its path. These are the sights we must hold in mind, in order to move to a higher place.

  Yusef Lateef

  Moving, Sight, Order

  11 Copy quote

• Each culture has some knowledge. That's why I studied with Saj Dev, an Indian flute player. That's why I studied Stockhausen's music. The pygmies' music of the rain forest is very rich music. So the knowledge is out there. And I also believe one should seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave. With that kind of inquisitiveness, one discovers things that were unknown before.

  Yusef Lateef

  Rain, Believe, Player

  20 Copy quote

• Whatever I do today is the whole continuum of my experience. Like John Dewey said in his book ‘Art as Experience,’ you can’t separate experience from the work of art. So, if I write for the symphony today, you’re listening to everything that’s happened to me since I was 18 years old.

  Yusef Lateef

  Art, Book, Writing

  Yusef Lateef, Herb Boyd (2006). “The Gentle Giant: The Autobiography of Yusef Lateef”, p.176, morton books, inc

  8 Copy quote

• I started to study the flute in 1951. The flute has been utilized by African-American musicians as far back as the early Twenties. If you take a look at some of the old pictures of Chick Webb, then you will see the flute right there on the bandstand among the woodwinds.

  Yusef Lateef

  African American, Flutes, Musician

  12 Copy quote

• I started in high school with a teacher there. I also took lessons at the Conservatory of Music in Detroit. Detroit was very motivating. There were a lot of local people who inspired me like Kenny Burrell, Paul Chambers, Roy Brooks, Donald Byrd, etc.

  Yusef Lateef

  Teacher, School, People

  8 Copy quote

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