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.

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

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

I joined Count Basie's band to make a little money and to see the world. For two years I didn't see anything but the inside of a Blue Goose bus, and I never got to send home a quarter.

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

If I'm going to sing like someone else, then I don't need to sing at all.

Singing songs like 'The Man I Love' or 'Porgy' is no more work than sitting down and eating Chinese roast duck, and I love roast duck.