“Listening to music, I have to do things. I have things, like I love to wash socks, cause I love warm water on my fingers. If I really feel pissed about something, then I'll wash clothes. So, I learn from what's happening in music by keeping busy doing something else. Until, of course, my turn to do the music - and then I've discovered what I've learned. But that is also related to when I was really attempting to be a social person. Which meant I was going to - it hasn't beenthat long ago - going to bars with a lot of different people, and then somebody would say something that would make me very angry, and a day and a half later, when I'm practicing then I'd understand what made me angry about it, and what there was to do about it.

What is happening now is I'm beginning to understand what I do, and some of the effect that it has on other people that I'm not happy with in retrospect. So I'm doing this kind of self-examination. But, you know, in a nice way, a comfortable way. I'm also having my own nunnery. I'm deliberately not - Aretha Franklin made this wonderful record, with extraordinary piano, called Brand New Me. That's what I'm working on.”

Cecil Taylor