Living composers writing for big band are very few and far between. There are not a lot of them, and I have a talent for doing it. I am zeroing in on what I do best.

Quote by Carla Bley

Topics: Carla Bley Quotes

I got started when I was 3 years old because my father was a music...

I got started when I was 3 years old because my father was a music...

I just got to hear every note. After I left Birdland, I started working at...

I just got to hear every note. After I left Birdland, I started working at...

There are times when what's happening in rock is the best music in the world,...

There are times when what's happening in rock is the best music in the world,...

I like chords that are very lush with all the lush parts taken out.

I like chords that are very lush with all the lush parts taken out.

I don't think you can ever regain your ignorance.

I don't think you can ever regain your ignorance.

I still prefer the bebop of the '40s. The very stuff I started out with...

I still prefer the bebop of the '40s. The very stuff I started out with...

When you have 13 horns, and one is soloing, you have 12 people to play...

When you have 13 horns, and one is soloing, you have 12 people to play...

I don't enjoy traveling in America. I don't like the food, the cars. It is...

I don't enjoy traveling in America. I don't like the food, the cars. It is...

Listening is more important than anything else because that's what music is. Somebody is playing...

Listening is more important than anything else because that's what music is. Somebody is playing...

When Ronald Reagan was elected I was on a bus traveling with a band in...

When Ronald Reagan was elected I was on a bus traveling with a band in...

I don't need much coaxing.

I don't need much coaxing.

One performer whose band played my music better than I could myself was Art Farmer....

One performer whose band played my music better than I could myself was Art Farmer....

Gerry Mulligan and Chet Baker seemed so sophisticated and bad. I wanted to be like...

Gerry Mulligan and Chet Baker seemed so sophisticated and bad. I wanted to be like...

When you are studying jazz, the best thing to do is listen to records or...

When you are studying jazz, the best thing to do is listen to records or...

I write very slowly.

I write very slowly.

It would be really hard to get serious about anything political today unless it was...

It would be really hard to get serious about anything political today unless it was...