I read cover to cover every jazz publication that I could and in the New York Times, every single day reading their jazz reviews even though I didn't put them in the films. I wanted to know what is going…

Quote by Ken Burns

Topics: Ken Burns Quotes

I record all of my music with authentic instruments in a studio before we start...

I record all of my music with authentic instruments in a studio before we start...

When you are editing, the final master is Aristotle and his poetics. You might have...

When you are editing, the final master is Aristotle and his poetics. You might have...

The genius of our country is improvisation, and jazz reflects that. It's our great contribution...

The genius of our country is improvisation, and jazz reflects that. It's our great contribution...

I subscribe to William Faulkner's' view that history is not just about what we were...

I subscribe to William Faulkner's' view that history is not just about what we were...

I grew up certain for a while that I was going to be an anthropologist,...

I grew up certain for a while that I was going to be an anthropologist,...

History's just been made for sale to an inside deal.

History's just been made for sale to an inside deal.

You don't work on something for six years and be blind to the myriad of...

You don't work on something for six years and be blind to the myriad of...

A jazz beat is a dynamic changing rhythm.

A jazz beat is a dynamic changing rhythm.

I enjoy total creative control right now. Nobody tells me to make it longer, shorter,...

I enjoy total creative control right now. Nobody tells me to make it longer, shorter,...

In a sense I've made the same film over and over again. In all of...

In a sense I've made the same film over and over again. In all of...

You know, you meet some people, and do a lot of interviews, and you come...

You know, you meet some people, and do a lot of interviews, and you come...

Good history is a question of survival. Without any past, we will deprive ourselves of...

Good history is a question of survival. Without any past, we will deprive ourselves of...

The way I work, the interview never becomes larger than the person being interviewed.

The way I work, the interview never becomes larger than the person being interviewed.

I think the problem with a lot of the fusion music is that it's extremely...

I think the problem with a lot of the fusion music is that it's extremely...

In most films music is brought in at the end, after the picture is more...

In most films music is brought in at the end, after the picture is more...

We're having a hard time understanding where jazz is going. What happened to jazz?

We're having a hard time understanding where jazz is going. What happened to jazz?

I treat the photograph as a work of great complexity in which you can find...

I treat the photograph as a work of great complexity in which you can find...

I think my expectations for myself are much more severe and much more direct. You...

I think my expectations for myself are much more severe and much more direct. You...

You can learn as much about the history from reading about the present as you...

You can learn as much about the history from reading about the present as you...

One of the things I really like about Ford's films is how there is always...

One of the things I really like about Ford's films is how there is always...