...people will go for anything they don't understand if it's got enough hype. They want to be hip, want always to be in on the new thing so they don't look unhip. White people are especially like that, particularly when a black person is doing something they don't understand...That's what I thought was happening when Ornette hit town.

When the band plays fast, you play slow; when the band plays slow, you play fast.

You can't play anything on a horn that Louis Armstrong hasn't played

Certain drummers drop time, and I like to play on top of the beat.

Keith, how does it feel to be a genius?

In music, silence is more important than sound.

I don't wanna talk about Teo [Macero]. He's a helluva musician, a brilliant musician, but he's just not for me, that's all. I can elaborate on it, but I don't want to do that.