"I would rather play Chiquita Banana and have my swimming pool than play Bach and starve"
- Xavier Cugat
About this Quote
This quote by Xavier Cugat is a funny way of expressing his choice for a more relaxed and satisfying way of life. He is recommending that he would rather have a good time and be comfortable than to be serious and struggle to make ends satisfy. He is suggesting that he would rather have a life of leisure and satisfaction than one of hard work and deprivation. He is also suggesting that he would rather be imaginative and have a good time than to be major and disciplined. By comparing playing Chiquita Banana to playing Bach, he is recommending that he would rather have a life of enjoyable and relaxation than one of effort and commitment. He is likewise suggesting that he would rather have a life of abundance than one of scarcity. This quote is a humorous method of expressing Xavier Cugat's preference for a more unwinded and pleasurable way of life.
"Liquid architecture. It's like jazz - you improvise, you work together, you play off each other, you make something, they make something. And I think it's a way of - for me, it's a way of trying to understand the city, and what might happen in the city"
"Jazz vision is the fusion of music and art a real paradox of same-yet different. Here we play in exchanges, like the hardness of the key of c# major and from the softness of Db major - capturing, reflecting and improvising"