Doc Severinsen Quotes (14 Quotes)

Dorsey was a special influence. If you wanted to be a bandleader, he's the guy you needed to work with, ... You could learn a lot from him. As a brass player, it was like going to college. Every day, it was like private lessons.

Personally, I think young musicians need to learn to play more than one style. Jazz can only enhance the classical side, and classical can only enhance the jazz. I started out playing classical, because you have to have that as a foundation.

I don't suppose I'll ever get over it. I mean, the boss is gone. But he wouldn't want anybody hanging any out, any black crepe for him.

I'm a Swede who loves Italian food it's the culture I identify with mostly. I love the people and everything about them.

Now I'm having the time of my life being on the road with one of the world's all-time great big bands, and performing with symphonies. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

I was snowed in a couple of years, just like everyone else,

I still play jazz, and I've always got that trumpet very handy, but I'm coming to feel the classical venues are where my main focus is, in the realm of symphonic pops.

My goodness, everyone is planting grapes, even a neighbor with only five acres.

He was a very private person, but then, you know, he belonged to the whole United States. The United States thought they owned Johnny Carson.

It hasn't been much of a retirement at all. I thought it would be, but it just didn't work out that way. I'm doing a lot of work, and there are always some great possibilities out there.

Music and the arts are not just something to make people feel good. They elevate the soul and broaden the entire personality. It's easy to say they aren't needed because culture seems intangible. But not having it deprives young people of a cultural heritage.

Television is so influential that when an audience sees you day-in and day-out there's a certain acceptance that sets in; you're no longer a threatening personality. They become more willing to accept whatever you present.

Well, the thought came to me that, for many of us who did this show, and for many people who watched the show, just because Johnny left there, didn't give them the closure they needed. But I would say that his passing gave us that closure, because I think we all realize now that he's not coming back.

Dorsey's sound kind of stayed with me. Plus, I have a flamboyant personality - and that gets in there, too. Your sound is a reflection of your personality and your environment. What you hear first in your life stays with you. The type of sounds you hear will have an influence on you later.