When jazz is played in another nation, it is called…

When jazz is played in another nation, it is called American. When it is played in another country, it sounds false. Jazz is the result of the energy stored up in America.

Sourced, The Composer in the Machine Age (1933)

Page 387

Other George Gershwin Quotes

Jazz I regard as an American folk music; not the only one, but a very powerful one which is probably in the blood and feeling of the American people more than any other style of folk music. - View Quote Details on Jazz I regard as an American folk music; not the…
A skyscraper is at the same time a triumph of the machine and a tremendous emotional experience, almost breath-taking. Not merely its height but its mass and proportions are the result of an emotion, as well as of calculation. - View Quote Details on A skyscraper is at the same time a triumph of…
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My people are American, my time is today…music must repeat the thought and aspirations of the times. - View Quote Details on My people are American, my time is today…music must repeat…
If jazz should threaten to become a hampering stereotype, a “tradition” in its turn, George would go forward to the next fresh impulse that arose in him. You may call him the King of jazz and associate his name with the lifting of jazz into musical artistry. Very well, and his best thanks. But not on that account is he to be thrust into a pigeonhole. George Gershwin did not begin as a jazzer; he will not end as one. - View Quote Details on If jazz should threaten to become a hampering stereotype, a…
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Porgy is…an interesting example of what can be done by talent in spite of a bad setup. With a libretto that should never have been accepted on a subject that should never have been chosen, a man who should never have attempted it has written a work that has a considerable power. - View Quote Details on Porgy is…an interesting example of what can be done by…
Gershwin’s tragedy was not that he failed to cross the tracks, but rather that he did, and once there in his new habitat, was deprived of the chance to plunge his roots firmly into the new soil. - View Quote Details on Gershwin’s tragedy was not that he failed to cross the…