Irvin Mayfield

“It's important to recognize how special New Orleans is. You play the snare drum or the clarinet in any other city, and you'd be considered a nerd, but here, there's no shame in it, and it's absolutely valued.”

“The reason New Orleans is still around is because of the celebrations it has inspired since its inception as a city. I'm always excited about the possibility of what might happen. That's what drives us, and I think that's the spirit of New Orleans and the spirit of jazz.”

“When you celebrate, it's something that happens as a group. But when you mourn, sorrow is something that you handle as an individual.”

“I think there's no greater healing power than music.”

“I chose New Orleans because New Orleans chose me. This city gave me my dad and my love of life.”

“I miss my dad, yes. But I try to honor his memory, as well as all the victims of Hurricane Katrina, through the love I have for all humanity, a love I try to express through my music.”

“Art gives us an opportunity to not have to leave or go somewhere or do something to experience the magic in our lives. It actually gets us to sit back and be where we are and recognize we're already magical.”

“I really wanted to give people that tool, that thing, that answer, 'Well, what are you going to do after Katrina? How does New Orleans come back?' And I'm thinking to myself, New Orleans is back. We're the definition of 'back.' We're the definition of 'rebirth,' of 'renaissance.'”

“One of the things I love about jazz music is that intent is first and execution is second. In classical music, execution is first and intent is second, meaning that you must first learn a piece before you can truly add your interpretation to it.”

“I think we have gotten to a point as Americans, unfortunately, where we take for granted the magic that life brings and that life is really special and every life matters. We tend to go through life but not take the moment to step back and remember you are here, right now, for a very finite amount of time.”

“I don't see myself only as a member of the New Orleans community. I see myself as a part of the human community. I see myself as a part of the community that's trying to put things in the world that add value to people's lives.”

“A degree is an asset, but it doesn't mean anything by itself. It's just another asset. So is being persuasive, having good personality, being smart.”

“I think, you know, people think of the city of New Orleans as a parochial place where it's a lot of folks who are from there and a lot of big families, a lot of musical families, a lot of history, a lot of tradition, but I like to think of New Orleans as an idea.”

“Culture is important. Wars are fought over culture. It's not just about folks showing up and being hoity-toity. Culture is about definition.”