Viewing: Role Models/Mentors - View all posts
UNPUBLISHED MILES
Check out these uber-cool, unpublished bandstand images of
Miles Davis (by Robert W. Kelley) from May of 1958:
Miles Davis (by Robert W. Kelley) from May of 1958:
WHAT MUSIC IS
"My music is the spiritual expression of what I am:
my faith, my knowledge, my being."
—John Coltrane
"Music is everything. Nature is music.
The sea is music, the wind is music."
—Duke Ellington
"We're just beginning to learn the importance
of music in our society."
—Lester Bowie
THE HELPER
After accepting the overture of destiny, the hero may encounter a Helper with unique insight. The helper's purpose is to provide the hero with supernatural aid, esoteric knowledge, tools or talismans. The helper most often appears in archetypal form as an angelic spirit, crone, wise man, wizard, mentor or teacher.
ADVICE
"Be grateful for luck. Pay the thunder no mind.
Listen to the birds. And don't hate nobody."
—Eubie Blake
"Best thing is to stay cool, be choosy and
wait for the right opportunity."
—Chet Baker
"Break windows, smoke cigars, and stay up late.
Tell 'em to do that, they'll find a little pot of gold."
—Tom Waits
FORGIVENESS
"Without forgiveness, there's no future."
—Desmond Tutu
"Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names."
—John F. Kennedy
"The face forgives the mirror, the worm forgives the plough,
the question begs the answer, can you forgive me somehow?"
—Tom Waits
PUT ON YOUR BASIE BOOTS
"Some men are searching for the Holy Grail,
but there ain't nothing sweeter than riding the rail."
—Tom Waits
"Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again;
we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life."
—Jack Kerouac
"Galloping around the cosmos is a game for the young."
—James T. Kirk
FORTES FORTUNA ADIUVAT
"We are all tied to our destiny,
and there is no way we can liberate ourselves."
—Rita Hayworth
"You can't fight fate,
and you can't survive alone."
—The Batman
"Fate is being kind to me.
Fate doesn't want me to be too famous too young."
—Duke Ellington
THERE'S NO PLACE
"I don't have any great love for Chicago.
What the hell, a childhood around Douglas Park isn't very memorable.
I left Chicago a long time ago."
—Benny Goodman
"The desert is so pretty, especially at sunset.
And the Mexican food over there is outstanding, you know.
But we wanted to play jazz, so...."
—Art Farmer
"Man, they gave me a key to the city!
Can you imagine, going back to Indiana and getting the key to the city?
That made me feel pretty good."
—Freddie Hubbard
RESOLUTION
"A legend is an old man with a cane known for what he used to do.
I'm still doing it."
—Miles Davis
"You may get real tired of watching me, but I'm not going to quit."
—Harrison Ford
"People think it's an obsession. A compulsion. As if there were an irresistible impulse to act. It's never been like that. I chose this life. I know what I'm doing. And on any given day, I could stop doing it. Today, however, isn't that day. And tomorrow won't be either."
—The Batman
THE WAY FORWARD
"Exponential growth looks like nothing is happening.
Then suddenly you get this explosion at the end."
—Ray Kurzweil
"We are the facilitators of our own creative evolution."
—Bill Hicks
"Practice your long tones."
—Art Farmer
THE DOWN SIDE
"The code of the road is: if there is anything to eat, eat;
if there is a place to sit, sit; if there is a restroom, go."
—Jessica Savitch
"The one thing I regret was that my work required an
enormous amount of my time...and a lot of travel."
—Neil Armstrong
"Sure you love music, but do you love living out of a suitcase?
Because that's the life. You might think it's romantic,
but it gets lonesome out there."
—Art Farmer
SINCERITY
"Be sincere; be brief; be seated."
—Franklin D. Roosevelt
"If they practice sincerely
they will attain enlightenment."
—Dogen Zenji
"You can play a shoestring
if you're sincere."
—John Coltrane
CONFIRMATION BIAS
"You're only as good as your last picture."
—Humphrey Bogart
"You're only as good as your last envelope."
—Silvio Dante
"You're only as good as your last rhythm section."
—Art Farmer
VISION
"An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind."
—Mahatma Gandhi
"The story of life is quicker than the blink of an eye.
The story of love is hello, goodbye."
—Jimi Hendrix
"If you can do a half-assed job of anything, you're a
one-eyed man in a kingdom of the blind."
—Kurt Vonnegut
THREE FROM BRUCE LEE
"Do not be tense, just be ready, not thinking but not dreaming,
not being set but being flexible. It is being wholly and quietly alive,
aware and alert, ready for whatever may come."
"Adapt what is useful, reject what is useless,
and add what is specifically your own."
"It is merely simplicity; the ability to express the utmost
with the minimum."
SEEK WHAT THEY SOUGHT
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise.
Seek what they sought."
~Basho
A HEROIC WORLD
"A hero cannot be a hero unless in a heroic world."
~Nathaniel Hawthorne
THE GREATEST
ALONE TOGETHER ~ Chet Baker
ANYTHING YOU WANT by Derek Sivers
I'm knocked out by ANYTHING YOU WANT, the new book by Derek Sivers.
Best known as the musician/mastermind behind independent music juggernaut CD Baby, Sivers has emerged as a modern day folk hero to artists, iconoclasts and entrepreneurs, while earning the respect of the establishment as one of the most inspiring minds of the digital age.
Anything You Want provides a concise outline of the author's unique approach to enhancing creativity and productivity—an approach which is both universally applicable and refreshingly counterintuitive.
Part manifesto, part memoir, the book brings together the best articles from Sivers' popular blog with an inside look at the company he founded and the evolution of its enlightened business practices.
As a special bonus, Derek Sivers is giving book customers an MP3 from some of his favorite CD Baby artists. I'm delighted to recommend the book, and am honored that Derek is including my song "Emerald Buddha" among the selections.
Best known as the musician/mastermind behind independent music juggernaut CD Baby, Sivers has emerged as a modern day folk hero to artists, iconoclasts and entrepreneurs, while earning the respect of the establishment as one of the most inspiring minds of the digital age.
Anything You Want provides a concise outline of the author's unique approach to enhancing creativity and productivity—an approach which is both universally applicable and refreshingly counterintuitive.
Part manifesto, part memoir, the book brings together the best articles from Sivers' popular blog with an inside look at the company he founded and the evolution of its enlightened business practices.
As a special bonus, Derek Sivers is giving book customers an MP3 from some of his favorite CD Baby artists. I'm delighted to recommend the book, and am honored that Derek is including my song "Emerald Buddha" among the selections.
JOSEPH CAMPBELL ~ On Becoming an Adult
DIRTY HARRY WEEK
For my homies in San Francisco who, like me, love Clint Eastwood, Lalo Schifrin and any movie set in "America's Paris"—and for my new friends in Arizona who dig handguns, vigilante justice and the exploits of morally questionable celebrity lawmen, heads up:
It's DIRTY HARRY WEEK!
All 5 Dirty Harry movies are being broadcast this week on AMC.
Here's a great blog to enhance your viewing experience, with "then and now" photos of the Dirty Harry filming locations.
BEYOND CATEGORY ~ DM on Great Artists
Explorers by nature, great artists rarely
concern themselves with labels or limits.