Quotes by Herbie Mann

About Herbie Mann:

Herbert Jay Solomon was an American jazz flautist and important early practitioner of world music. Early in his career, he also played tenor saxophone and clarinet (including bass clarinet), but Mann was among the first jazz musicians to specialize on the flute. His most popular single was "Hijack", which was a Billboard number-one dance hit for three weeks in 1975.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Being selfish to me means that you have to look out for yourself and you don't have to sacrifice.

Herbie Mann

Being stubborn has helped, being selfish is not a bad thing.

Herbie Mann

I always say, if you keep your head in the sand, you don't know where the kick's coming from.

Herbie Mann

I was raised in Brooklyn, and I lived there for 59 years.

Herbie Mann

My ego is controlled enough that I don't have to be the focus.

Herbie Mann

My father's father came from Russia; my mother came from Romania.

Herbie Mann

My youngest son, who is now the drummer in my band, lives in Brooklyn. My oldest son is about to move out to California, and my daughters are both out of town.

Herbie Mann

One of the advantages of not having a record contract is that you can make your own mistakes, you don't need somebody else to organize them for you.

Herbie Mann

To most jazz critics I was basically Kenny G.

Herbie Mann

What I try to do is produce an atmosphere where musicians want to invest in what they do and give to the recording. I hire those musicians who I know will play something creative and interesting.

Herbie Mann

You don't have to live the blues to play the blues.

Herbie Mann

I recently formed a foundation to raise awareness for prostate cancer. I feel it's very necessary that men be more aware about prostate cancer and their health in general.

Herbie Mann

By the time I'm 90, I hope to have it together.

Herbie Mann

But when I first got cancer, after the initial shock and the fear and paranoia and crying and all that goes with cancer - that word means to most people ultimate death - I decided to see what I could do to take that negative and use it in a positive ...

Herbie Mann

Music allows the great opportunity to play with people who turned you on and you love.

Herbie Mann

When you get cancer, it's like really time to look at what your life was and is, and I decided that everything I've done so far is not as important as what I'm going to do now.

Herbie Mann

You have to be concerned with yourself because if you're not on it all the time, nobody else is going to be.

Herbie Mann

The reality is that what you find out is that your head is the medicine. If your head is not in the right place and you don't think positively, all the medicine technology in the world is not going to work.

Herbie Mann

For me Brazilian music is the perfect mix of melody and rhythm. It just bubbles rhythmically. If I had to pick just one music style to play if would be Brazilian.

Herbie Mann

I loved the Brazilian music I played. But this is finally me. For the first time I think it's really me.

Herbie Mann

Author Bio

  • NameHerbie Mann
  • DescriptionAmerican musician
  • BornApril 16, 1930
  • DiedJuly 1, 2003
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionComposer; Jazz Musician
  • AwardsGuggenheim Fellowship