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.

The hidden things, the subconscious that lies in the body and lets you know: You feel this, you play this.

I’ve had those people very interested in my writing. Since I think of myself as a composer, I feel really good. I’ve had lots of guys call me up. I’ve gotten two or three commissions to write things. I’ve written lots of movie scores.

Talk of God is most often in church. Is there a God outside of church? I hope so. But how should I know? How does anybody know?

We in the Western world suffer from too many categories and classes; we’ve forgotten that we all still have diapers on. We’ve separated music from life.

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

Through Dizzy and Bird I began to learn about musical structures and the more theoretical aspects of music.

The melody is generally what the piece is all about.

One shouldn’t be in the habit of quoting oneself.

I always think of music as interior decoration. So, if you have all kinds of music, you are fully decorated!

Jazz music will continue to thrive, possibly in unexpected ways.

I never practice my guitar. From time to time I just open the case and throw in a piece of raw meat.

In Jazz, improvisation isn’t a matter of just making any ol’ thing up. Jazz, like any language, has its own grammer and vocabulary. There’s no right or wrong, just some choices that are better than others.

Every symphony, for example, is a sonata for orchestra; every string quartet is a sonata for four strings; every concerto a sonata for a solo instrument and orchestra.

I have a deep respect for harmony, melodic patterns and form.

Jazz is the big brother of the blues. If a guy’s playing blues like we play, he’s in high school. When he starts playing jazz it’s like going on to college, to a school of higher learning.

I’ve always had a deep love of live performance, it’s when I feel most alive.

I’m just trying to create context for me to improve my musicianship.

Jazz music today is from the head and not the heart.

It’s a matter of who would be right for each song. Mickey Hart for ‘All We Need is An Island’ – he’s the only guy I know who has Tahitian drums and every kind of drum on the planet.

Jazz standards are our contribution to music history.