“Ornette Coleman is the most beautiful man that ever lived. R.I.P.”
-Flea, Red Hot Chili Peppers
“You could hear he was from Texas in the way he played. He had a certain farmhouse kind of call, that down-home spirit.”
-Joe Lovano, saxophonist and friend
“Ornette reminded us that making art is a revolutionary act, that rules are meant to be broken and that change is endemic to the creative process.”
-Don Was, producer; president, Blue Note Records
“This is one of the last greats — the Pharoah [Sanders] is still with us! We must now take the lessons taught and carry the torch to the future.”
-Questlove
“When I met Ornette, the first thing he said was, ‘Ken, what does sound sound like?'”
-Ken Weinstein, Coleman’s publicist from 2006 to 2015