We no longer want to be a melting pot, because we don't understand what is already melted.
Wynton MarsalisSo when we spend all of our time trying to separate that which is already joined, it's a waste of time.
Wynton MarsalisWho creates a thing is not as important as what the thing is. Who created baseball? Who created basketball? Who created the space program? Who created - we could go on and on. We could argue about who created something. We all are participants in it.
Wynton MarsalisAs long as there is democracy, there will be people wanting to play jazz because nothing else will ever so perfectly capture the democratic process in sound. Jazz means working things out musically with other people. You have to listen to other musicians and play with them even if you don't agree with what they're playing. It teaches you the very opposite of racism and anti-Semitism. It teaches you that the world is big enough to accommodate us all.
Wynton Marsalis