Michel Portal Quotes

My family were musicians and they all tried to play something. My father played trumpet, my grandfather played bassoon and when I was very young I saw many instruments around me, and I picked up the trumpet, then the clarinet, then the horn and the violin, and I tried to make sounds. I wasn�t really looking for music; it was always there. I played flute at seven, then clarinet and my father wanted me to stop for a bit to concentrate on my studies. I was ten when I picked up the clarinet again.
Michel Portal

�Musicians like Eric Dolphy were attacked with those same questions, but there were those on the other side who said, �just play that way, do what you want.� It helped us to learn that one just has to play what one wants, without concern for what�s going on outside of making the music.�
Michel Portal

Every musician that comes along has a certain way of playing in mind - Albert Ayler, Jimi Hendrix - and every musician has a clear reference in mind, a sort of "father." At this time, everybody was trying to play together [perhaps across certain bounds], but we all had a spiritual leader. After the deaths of Ayler and Hendrix, and later of Miles Davis (who was a big reference for a lot of musicians), many people lost their way - they were totally destroyed. But at the same time, without a clear reference, many musicians have focused on their own identity and way of playing, being honest with themselves. 
Michel Portal