I can only sing songs my way. I don't know any other way.

I think I copied my style from Louis Armstrong. Because I used to like the big volume and the big sound that Bessie Smith got when she sang ... So I liked the feeling that Louis got and I wanted the big volume that Bessie Smith got. But I found that it didn't work with me, because I didn't have a big voice. So anyway between the two of them I sorta got Billie Holiday.

Dope never helped anybody sing better or play music better or do anything better. All dope can do for you is kill you - and kill you the long, slow, hard way.

I can't stand to sing the same song the same way two nights in succession, let alone two years or ten years.

When Lester plays, he almost seems to be singing; one can almost hear the words.

I don't think I'm singing. I feel like I'm playing a horn...What comes out is what I feel.

The only reason they're out there is to see me fall into the damn orchestra pit.