Sometimes when it goes really well, you wonder, who's that at the piano? — Cecil Taylor Piano Copy Share Image
You know what the material is so that you never play it the same way twice. — Cecil Taylor Never Copy Share Image
What I am doing is creating a language. A different American language. — Cecil Taylor Am Copy Share Image
Mother, being a pianist, told me how to play with my fingers on the piano. — Cecil Taylor Being Copy Share Image
When I came out of the conservatory, the first thing I did was to go see Thelonious Monk. — Cecil Taylor Conservatory Copy Share Image
Before he fought Billy Conn, Joe Louis said, 'He can run, but he can't hide.' That's how I feel about New York:… — Cecil Taylor Feel Copy Share Image
You must surrender whatever preconceptions you have about music if you're really interested in it. — Cecil Taylor Music Copy Share Image
One of the things Mother said to me, 'You want this, you're going to practice.' And I know how to practice. — Cecil Taylor Going Copy Share Image
They say, 'We will give you money, but we want you to play this or that.' And I always thought, 'If I'm… — Cecil Taylor Go Copy Share Image
The first record I made, when I listen to it, I understand. I understand perfectly well why certain musicians were unhappy with… — Cecil Taylor Me Copy Share Image
I'm saying that people who are enmeshed in situations of subjugation and have to live, have to find ways to project their… — Cecil Taylor Dignity Copy Share Image
In short, [Coltrane's] tone is beautiful because it is functional. In other words, it is always involved in saying something. You can't… — Cecil Taylor Art Copy Share Image
The quality of life, values that go down to doin' that, that's the issue. — Cecil Taylor Life Copy Share Image
I try to imitate on the piano the leaps in space a dancer makes. — Cecil Taylor Dance Copy Share Image
When you play, when you perform, it might be for the last time, so you got to do it. — Cecil Taylor Last Copy Share Image
Lena Horne - when she walked onstage, she really was Erzulie. — Cecil Taylor Onstage Copy Share Image
I discovered very early that it wasn't quite enough for me to imitate people. — Cecil Taylor Enough Copy Share Image
Fats - very funny man, but every note that he played was like a pearl. — Cecil Taylor Funny Copy Share Image
Find one note on the instrument that pleases you, and then find another note that also pleases you. — Cecil Taylor Another Copy Share Image
I understand about the relative strengths of people, and I don't think people have to be anything. They can be nothin' if… — Cecil Taylor People Copy Share Image
Someone once asked me if I was gay. I said, 'Do you think a three-letter word defines the complexity of my humanity?'… — Cecil Taylor Avoid Copy Share Image
I am not afraid of European influences. The point is to use them, as Ellington did, as part of my life as… — Cecil Taylor American Copy Share Image
If you take the creation of music and the creation of your own life values as your overall goal, then living becomes… — Cecil Taylor Creation Copy Share Image
When you think about musicians who are reading music, my contention has always been the energy that you're using deciphering what the… — Cecil Taylor Creative energy Copy Share Image
The emphasis in each piece is on building a whole, totally integrated structure. In doing this, we try to carry on -… — Cecil Taylor Building Copy Share Image
I've always tried to be a poet more than anything else. I mean, professional musicians die. — Cecil Taylor Always Copy Share Image
![“In short, [Coltrane's] tone is beautiful because it is functional. In other words, it is always involved in saying something. You can't separate the means that a man uses to say something from what he ultimately says. Technique is not separated from its content in a great artist.” quote by Cecil Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/279/cecil-taylor-20434_art_in-short-coltrane-s-tone-is-beautiful-be_358656.jpg)
