the freedom of the artist

the freedom of the artist

from: quotes from zawinul infomania

The following are quotes from joe zawinul, keyboardist.

"Everything is in decline the moment you stop giving the artist freedom."

Q: Many point to the work you did with Miles in the late '60s as the music that most significantly impacted your musical evolution.

A: "It is the other way around, frankly speaking. I think he got more from me than I got from him in that respect."

Q: I understand you don’t look back on Bitches Brew as the landmark album many believe it to be.

A: No, I don't. But I'm not a critic and what I like I like and what I don't like I don't like. It's a good album with a nice atmosphere. I don't think there's anything Earth-shaking about that record. When we got out of a session, Miles drove me home and he asked me why I didn’t say anything during the ride and I said "I didn’t like what we did and what is being done."

Q: A band called Portishead used Weather Report samples from "Elegant People" on the track "Strangers" from its album Dummy. The band received permission prior to doing it and gave you full credit. But do you find it strange that many of today’s acts feel compelled to sample something old in order to create something new?

A: It's not strange at all. It's really, really nice. I think some of the sampled music has some artistic value. I have no problem with someone doing something new. I just don't like stuff that's warmed up.

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