Would you believe that Sammy Davis, Jr. taught me how to sing a ballad? 'You can be in an arena,' he said, 'and you should be able to hold their attention.'
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I know what I've done for music, but don't call me a legend. Just call me Miles Davis.
I am not a jazz singer. I wouldn't place myself on that footing. I wouldn't even enter that arena.
I sang all the time, and finally, my mother looked at me and said: 'I have a friend in New York who gives singing lessons. If she says you can sing, you can take lessons. If you can't sing, I never want you to open your mouth again as long as you live.'
My strength is to communicate with an audience and to know what jazz singing is capable of.
Miles Davis would have this lineup of all these amazing musicians and one day would just say, 'We're done.' After tons of great records and tickets sold, he said, 'Now I'm going to grow my hair out and play my horn through a wah-wah pedal.' Rather than play it safe, he went on.
The beauty of all these years of singing the anthem is that I got a chance to meet athletes that I love, and there was a mutual respect.
I was too shy, I think, to sing publicly. It takes a particular kind of person. And when I was young, I was not that person. In the first instance, when a record company said to me, do you want to try and make your record, my first reaction was, no, I'm not worthy - I couldn't possibly, and so on and so forth.
I really do think everybody can sing.
Singing is a gift.
When I'm not touring, I sing at home, either at the piano or I'll pick up my guitar, singing old Buck Owens songs.
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