I did all you can do with a clarinet. Any more would have been less.

I wanted to resign from the planet, not just music. It stopped being fun with success. Money got in the way. Everybody got greedy, including me. Fear set in. I got miserable when I became a commodity.

Jazz was born out of the whiskey bottle, was raised on marijiana, and will expire on cocaine.

An entertainer pleases others while an artist only has to please himself.

'Swing' is an adjective or a verb, not a noun. All jazz musicians should swing. There is no such thing as a 'swing band' in music.

The bandleader is a musician trying to sell a mass commodity; and in order to do so successfully he must accommodate himself to mass standards. Unless he can do this comfortably, sooner or later he is sunk.

If you wanna dance, a windshield wiper'll do it-all you need is a beat.