I felt that I had been influenced by being in the city enough and I wanted to go off by myself to see what was going on. I remember going out there and looking in the mirror and thinking I wasn't anything.

Next quotes

• Roscoe Mitchell:

  You have to know composition to be a good improviser.

• Roscoe Mitchell:

  I like to hear melodies that go from one extreme to the next- saxophone to a bell to a whistle, for

• Roscoe Mitchell:

  If you listen to nature, all the sounds are done in a confident way. I'm trying to do that.

• Roscoe Mitchell:

  I don't like to box myself in when I'm composing.

• Roscoe Mitchell:

  I'm approaching a period in my life though where I'd like to be totally absorbed into music, doing

• Roscoe Mitchell:

  I just consider myself a student, trying to learn more about it.

• Roscoe Mitchell:

  I always try to think of a vocabulary to match different musical situations.

• Roscoe Mitchell:

  What I try to impart to a musician is to really try to practice the instrument in a really sincere

• Roscoe Mitchell:

  To be a good improviser, you have to study composition as a parallel. Because what improvisation is

• Roscoe Mitchell:

  You can work on music a few lifetimes.