"There's a certain kind of motion and pacing that our music has, and this just doesn't have that. We just kind of rushed to the conclusion of most of the songs. I just would've preferred to done them over"
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The remark reveals a bandleader listening back and hearing that the music did not breathe. Motion and pacing are not abstract ideas for Branford Marsalis; they are the grammar of a performance. In jazz, motion is the forward pull created by time feel, harmonic movement, and the way motifs develop. Pacing is how that motion is shaped across a tune: where the band takes its time, where it tightens the screws, when it releases. Saying the songs rushed to their conclusions acknowledges that sections arrived before they were earned, that solos and transitions did not get the space to unfold, and that the arc of tension and release was flattened.
Such frustration often points to the pressures of the recording process. Studio clocks, label schedules, and the fatigue of multiple takes can lead players to choose expedience over patience. A band with a distinct live vocabulary may feel constrained when a track must fit a radio-friendly length or a session budget. Marsalis values narrative coherence, interactive dynamics, and a deep internal pulse; if those elements are truncated, the music can feel like a sketch rather than a story. Wanting to do them over is not about perfectionism for its own sake but about protecting the music’s narrative logic.
It also speaks to ensemble trust. A quartet that usually listens and reacts over longer arcs needs time to establish conversation: rhythm section patterns evolving, harmonic colors shifting, the saxophone’s phrases testing and answering. Rushing short-circuits that dialogue. The regret implies a standard the group holds itself to and an awareness that the band’s identity lives in its sense of time. There is humility here, too. Even after decades of acclaim, a master can admit that the result fell short of the band’s internal compass, and that the remedy is simple but hard: go back, slow down, and let the music find its own pace.
Such frustration often points to the pressures of the recording process. Studio clocks, label schedules, and the fatigue of multiple takes can lead players to choose expedience over patience. A band with a distinct live vocabulary may feel constrained when a track must fit a radio-friendly length or a session budget. Marsalis values narrative coherence, interactive dynamics, and a deep internal pulse; if those elements are truncated, the music can feel like a sketch rather than a story. Wanting to do them over is not about perfectionism for its own sake but about protecting the music’s narrative logic.
It also speaks to ensemble trust. A quartet that usually listens and reacts over longer arcs needs time to establish conversation: rhythm section patterns evolving, harmonic colors shifting, the saxophone’s phrases testing and answering. Rushing short-circuits that dialogue. The regret implies a standard the group holds itself to and an awareness that the band’s identity lives in its sense of time. There is humility here, too. Even after decades of acclaim, a master can admit that the result fell short of the band’s internal compass, and that the remedy is simple but hard: go back, slow down, and let the music find its own pace.
Quote Details
| Topic | Music |
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