Jazz is a very accurate, curiously accurate accompaniment to 20th century America.

Quote by Ken Burns

Topics: Ken Burns Quotes

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...

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 never, ever want to apologize for a film. If it's bad I'll say it's...

I never, ever want to apologize for a film. If it's bad I'll say it's...

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 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...

I have made a film about jazz that tries to look through jazz to see...

I have made a film about jazz that tries to look through jazz to see...

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 flame is not out, but it is flickering.

The flame is not out, but it is flickering.

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...

Wynton told us that Miles sold out, just wanted to make more money, just wanted...

Wynton told us that Miles sold out, just wanted to make more money, just wanted...

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 a documentary filmmaker, working in the style that I do, suggests that there has...

When a documentary filmmaker, working in the style that I do, suggests that there has...

The stories from 1975 on are not finished and there is no resolve. I could...

The stories from 1975 on are not finished and there is no resolve. I could...

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

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

History is malleable. A new cache of diaries can shed new light, and archeological evidence...

History is malleable. A new cache of diaries can shed new light, and archeological evidence...

You need, as a historian, essential triangulation from your subject and the only way you...

You need, as a historian, essential triangulation from your subject and the only way you...

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...

I read cover to cover every jazz publication that I could and in the New...

I read cover to cover every jazz publication that I could and in the New...

I don't use composers. I research music the way I research the photographs or the...

I don't use composers. I research music the way I research the photographs or the...

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...