Ornette Coleman

“Rhythm is the basis of music, not melody.”

“I want to make a record that you can't date.”

“Jazz is the only music in which the same note can be played night after night but differently each time.”

“Beauty is a rare thing.”

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

“Sound has a much richer vocabulary than words.”

“You can play a shoestring if you're sincere.”

“The most important part of my religion is to play the saxophone.”

“I think music is the only spiritual expression that we have.”

“I don't try to please when I play. I try to cure.”

“For me, the only thing that exists is the music.”

“I came to New York with the idea that I'd have to do something to get noticed.”

“The good old days are the good new days.”

“The theme you play at the start of the number is the territory. And what comes after, which may have very little to do with it, is the adventure.”

“The idea is that two or three people, or more, can be playing at the same time, and they don't have to be in the same key.”