List of Ornette Coleman Quotes

After I Found Out That I Was Playing Music And That I'd Have To Learn How To Read And Write Music, I Started Doing That About Two Years Later. Finally, I Said, "oh, That Means What I Really Want To Do Is To Be A Composer." But When I Was Coming Up In Texas, There Was Segregation. There Was No Schools To Go To. I Taught Myself How To Read And How To Start Writing.

I Would Like To Play For Audiences Who Are Not Using My Music To Stimulate Their Sex Organs.

It Seems To Me That In The Western World, Culture Has Something To Do With Appearance. A Person That's Out Creating Good Stuff Has Got To Appreciate Someone When They Take The Time To Have An Appearance That Goes With What They're Doing.

I've Never Had A Relationship With A Record Executive. I Always Went To The Record Company By Someone That Liked My Playing. Then They Would Get Fired, And I'd Be Left With The Record Company. And Then - Because They Got Fired - The Record Company Wouldn't Do Anything For Me.

When I Have Them Working Together, It's Like A Beautiful Kaleidoscope.

I Decided, If I'm Going To Be Poor And Black And All, The Least Thing I'm Going To Do Is To Try And Find Out Who I Am. I Created Everything About Me.

I Remember Once I Read A Book On Mental Illness And There Was A Nurse That Had Gotten Sick. Do You Know What She Died From? From Worrying About The Mental Patients Not Being Able To Get Their Food. She Became A Mental Patient.

I Don't Know What They're Thinking About. Just Because Someone Says, 'i Like What You Do' Or Something: They Might Like It Today And Tomorrow They Might Not. I've Had That Experience With Record Companies.

I Had A Really Good Time In New Orleans, Although I Had Some Very Tragic Times In Baton Rouge. Some Guys Beat Me Up And Threw My Horn Away. 'cause I Had A Beard, Then, And Long Hair Like The Beatles.

After I Left Texas And Went To California, I Had A Hard Time Getting Anyone To Play Anything That I Was Writing, So I Had To End Up Playing Them Myself. And That's How I Ended Up Just Being A Saxophone Player.

Originally, I Wanted To Be A Composer. I Always Tell People, 'i Think Of Myself As A Composer.

If You Decide You Want To Be Treated Good, And You Treat Someone Else Good, Or You Want To Learn Something, It's Information. It's Getting The Right, Good Information.