Cecil Taylor Quotes

Cecil Taylor — American Musician born on March 15, 1930,

Cecil Percival Taylor is an American pianist and poet. Classically trained, Taylor is generally acknowledged as one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an extremely energetic, physical approach, producing complex improvised sounds, frequently involving tone clusters and intricate polyrhythms. His piano technique has been likened to percussion, for example described as "eighty-eight tuned drums". He has also been described as "like Art Tatum with contemporary-classical leanings"... (wikipedia)

Rhythm is the life of space of time danced through.

If you take the creation of music and the creation of your own life values as your overall goal, then living becomes a musical process.

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.

You must surrender whatever preconceptions you have about music if you're really interested in it.

I discovered very early that it wasn't quite enough for me to imitate people.