37 Quotes by Cecil Taylor

When you think about musicians who are reading music, my contention has always been the energy that you're using deciphering what the symbol is is taking away from the maximum creative energy that you might have had if you understood that it's but a symbol.

One of the things Mother said to me, 'You want this, you're going to practice.' And I know how to practice.

When you play, when you perform, it might be for the last time, so you got to do it.

They say, 'We will give you money, but we want you to play this or that.' And I always thought, 'If I'm going to do that, I might as well go back and be a dishwasher.'

You know what the material is so that you never play it the same way twice.

Find one note on the instrument that pleases you, and then find another note that also pleases you.

Lena Horne - when she walked onstage, she really was Erzulie.

Before he fought Billy Conn, Joe Louis said, 'He can run, but he can't hide.' That's how I feel about New York: You can run from it, but you can't hide.

The emphasis in each piece is on building a whole, totally integrated structure. In doing this, we try to carry on - in ensemble as well as solo sections - the mood of a jazz soloist. I mean that principle of kinetic improvisation that keeps a jazz solo building.