A biography for Roscoe Mitchellhasn’t been written yet.
“When you can make a good, strong musical connection with people, that's always there. That's not often that that happens.”
“If you're playing with a number of people, there are all sorts of textures, all kinds of possibilities you can get into. So why just play a theme together and then take solos?”
“Creating sounds together with other musicians is something I've always liked doing.”
“Music has a way of getting under your skin.”
“I don't like to box myself in when I'm composing.”
“To be a good improviser, you have to study composition as a parallel. Because what improvisation is, on a high level, is spontaneous composition.”
“I say if you can find somebody you can make music with, that's a special thing, so you should try to keep it going.”
“I've always been interested in shaping music in odd ways, with odd riffs and that's been probably something that I've continued on with my studies with improvisation as I'm working with people.”
“I like to hear melodies that go from one extreme to the next- saxophone to a bell to a whistle, for instance.”
“What I try to impart to a musician is to really try to practice the instrument in a really sincere way. Learn as much about music as you possibly can. Learn composition. Study to try to create compositions of your own and put your own personal touch on your music.”
“You can work on music a few lifetimes.”
“You have to know composition to be a good improviser.”