Dianne Reeves

“A lot of young people want to become jazz singers, but there are not more jam sessions like there used to be. I just want to have the opportunity to be able to bring that to some young people.”

“My musical selections are a reflection of how I grew up. Because, back then, you could see Miles Davis and Ravi Shankar on the same stage. And nobody thought anything of it, other than the fact that it was great music.”

“One of the things that I love about Sarah Vaughan is that she was always very current.”

“The biggest thing is to just keep your voice in shape so that when the emotion hits, it's there to have the colors to paint those pictures with the lyrics as well as the sound.”

“Now, jazz institutions are more readily available for young people, but for me, the institutions were the bands that I was in. When I worked with Clark Terry, that was the beginning of school for me, and Harry Belafonte and Sergio Mendes, they were all my universities.”

“When I worked with my uncle, I loved the fact that jazz music demanded that you use your own unique approach.”

“I think that when I started singing, I didn't know what I wanted to do; I only knew what I didn't want to do.”

“Jazz musicians have always taken the standards of their time and performed them with a jazz sensibility.”

“I'm always inspired to push forward.”

“Being from Colorado is, to me, very, very special. I'm just very thankful to be here. I'm also thankful to be a part of the history of this state.”

“I've always respected and taken care of my instrument.”

“Art is a direct reflection of the life you live. What you experience comes out in your work.”

“It's funny: I look at songs, and I guess they each tell a story, and the different songs talk about different things. But they're unified by the rhythm underneath and the way that we decided to arrange and play them.”

“My musicians know all of my music, and so that makes for something different.”

“Early on, I started with classical voice and had that wonderful foundation. For where I wanted to go at that time, there were no teachers to teach it, so I came up with all kinds of different ways to develop the sound of my voice.”

“Some people think that all you do is record, and it's not the case. You take on other projects as well, and you have to live a little bit because it inspires your work.”

“In any event, I'm proud to wear the badge of jazz vocalist if that's what people want to call me; but at the same time, there are many other things I like to do.”

“I always have a little bit of Brazil and New Orleans in my band.”

“I think people have come to know that I am not comfortable in a box, you know, and that I love music.”

“I like coming home and sharing things I've tasted or seen.”