Ornette Coleman

I had a really good time in New Orleans, although I had some very tragic times in Baton Rouge. Some guys beat me up and threw my horn away. ‘Cause I had a beard, then, and long hair like the Beatles.

Music is a verb.

I wasn’t so interested in being paid. I wanted to be heard. That’s why I’m broke.

It was when I found out I could make mistakes that I knew I was on to something.

After I left Texas and went to California, I had a hard time getting anyone to play anything that I was writing, so I had to end up playing them myself. And that’s how I ended up just being a saxophone player.

I think that those elements – light and sound – are beyond democratic. They’re into the creative part of life.

I feel that Jazz improvisation is the ultimate. You have to create on the spot, the essence of this music.

Actually, I think the more Ben [Taylor] sings, the less like James he sounds.

I’m going to be on the road for the rest of my life.

Music is the shorthand of emotion

You will never know what the meaning of Jazz is if ask what it means.

Too many jazz pianists limit themselves to a personal style, a trademark, so to speak. They confine themselves to one type of playing. I believe in using the entire piano as a single instrument capable of expressing every possible musical idea. I have no one style. I play as I feel.

After I left Texas and went to California, I had a hard time getting anyone to play anything that I was writing, so I had to end up playing them myself. And that’s how I ended up just being a saxophone player.

As long as there are people trying to play music in a sincere way, there will be Jazz.

Well, if you find a note tonight that sounds good, play the same damn note every night!

I still do what I love, and I don’t really think about it. I try to make a beautiful show, so people go home happy. That’s my biggest aspiration: to make people happy.

Music is an extraordinary vehicle for expressing very powerful emotions. That’s what draws people towards it.

Music is a calling that you must bring your best to, whether listening, practicing or performing.

Wes Montgomery played impossible things on the guitar because it was never pointed out to him that they were impossible.

Jazz is a music to be played and not to be intellectualized on.

My dream is to do whatever I want without any interference from the record company.