Cecil Taylor

I've always tried to be a poet more than anything else. I mean, professional musicians die. ”

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. ”

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.' ”

I understand about the relative strengths of people, and I don't think people have to be anything. They can be nothin' if they want to be. ”

What I am doing is creating a language. A different American language. ”

Someone once asked me if I was gay. I said, 'Do you think a three-letter word defines the complexity of my humanity?' I avoid the trap of easy definition. ”

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

Mother, being a pianist, told me how to play with my fingers on the piano. ”

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

The quality of life, values that go down to doin' that, that's the issue. ”