“Eclecticism is the word. Like a jazz musician who creates his own style out of the styles around him, I play by ear.”

—  Ralph Ellison

"The Essential Ellison", interview by Ishmael Reed in Y'Bird 1, no. 1 (1978): 130-59.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Eclecticism is the word. Like a jazz musician who creates his own style out of the styles around him, I play by ear." by Ralph Ellison?
Ralph Ellison photo
Ralph Ellison 82
American novelist, literary critic, scholar and writer 1914–1994

Related quotes

Camille Pissarro photo

“Durand likes my paintings, but not the style of execution. His son, the one who went to New York with him, saw them but has not said a word to me.”

Camille Pissarro (1830–1903) French painter

Durand prefers the old execution, however he grants that my recent paintings have more light - in short, he isn't very keen. My 'Grey Weather' https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Pissarro_-_the-roofs-of-old-rouen-grey-weather-1896.jpg doesn't please him; his son and Caseburne [Durand's cashier] also dislike it.. .It appears that the subject is unpopular. They object to the red roof and backyard just what gave character to the painting which has the stamp of a modern primitive, and they dislike the brick houses, precisely what inspired me..
Quote in a letter, Paris, 27 July 1886, to his son Lucien; in Camille Pissarro - Letters to His Son Lucien ed. John Rewald, with assistance of Lucien Pissarro; from the unpublished French letters; transl. Lionel Abel; Pantheon Books Inc. New York, second edition, 1943, p. 80
1880's

Matthew Arnold photo

“Homer is rapid in his movement, Homer is plain in his words and style, Homer is simple in his ideas, Homer is noble in his manner. Cowper renders him ill because he is slow in his movement, and elaborate in his style; Pope renders him ill because he is artificial both in his style and in his words; Chapman renders him ill because he is fantastic in his ideas; Mr. Newman renders him ill because he is odd in his words and ignoble in his manner.”

Matthew Arnold On Translating Homer

On Translating Homer, p. 336
Essays in Criticism (1865)

Gabriele Münter photo

“I was never interested in being just modern – I mean in creating a new style. I simply painted in whatever style seemed to suit me best. But Kandinsky was a thinker and had to express his ideas in words, so he constantly formulated new theories of art which he liked to discuss with Kubín, who was also a thinker..”

Gabriele Münter (1877–1962) German painter

Source: Interview by Edouard Roditi (1958), p. 118

“You do not create a style. You work, and develop yourself; your style is an emanation from your own being.”

Katherine Anne Porter (1890–1980) American journalist, essayist, short story writer, novelist, and political activist

Writers at Work interview (1963)
Context: A cultivated style would be like a mask. Everybody knows it's a mask, and sooner or later you must show yourself — or at least, you show yourself as someone who could not afford to show himself, and so created something to hide behind... You do not create a style. You work, and develop yourself; your style is an emanation from your own being.

Roger Manganelli photo

“Roger: I don't pay much attention to what is popular to be honest. It's a never ending cycle - style comes in and out of style - I try not to get caught up in all of that, and just listen to stuff i like, and play what I like; popularity is overrated.”

Roger Manganelli (1973) American musician
Bill Evans photo

“[Bill Evans talking about Miles Davis's change of style to jazz fusion] I would like to hear more of the consummate melodic master, but I feel that big business and his record company have had a corrupting influence on his material. The rock and pop thing certainly draws a wider audience. It happens more and more these days, that unqualified people with executive positions try to tell musicians what is good and what is bad music. It’s tempting for the musician to prejudice his own views when recording opportunities are so infrequent but I for one am determined to resist the temptation.”

Bill Evans (1929–1980) American jazz pianist

http://jazztimes.com/articles/20128-miles-davis-and-bill-evans-miles-and-bill-in-black-white.

Johan Cruyff photo

“Who am I supporting? I am Dutch but I support the football that Spain is playing. Spain's style is the style of Barcelona. Spain, a replica of Barça, is the best publicity for football.”

Johan Cruyff (1947–2016) Dutch association football player

Cruyff wrote in his weekly column for the Barcelona-based newspaper El Periodico, prior to the 2010 FIFA World Cup final match ( Goal.com, 11 July 2010 http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2890/world-cup-2010/2010/07/11/2018367/from-ajax-to-barcelona-holland-vs-spain-world-cup-2010-final).

Jonathan Stroud photo

“Check out that one at the end. He's taken the form of a footstool. Weird… but somehow I like his style."

"That is a footstool.”

Jonathan Stroud book The Golem's Eye

Source: The Golem's Eye

“In modern American style, his job, not his past, defined him.”

Wilfrid Sheed (1930–2011) English-American novelist and essayist

"The Wit of George S. Kaufman and Dorothy Parker," p. 162
The Good Word & Other Words (1978)

Related topics