It seems to me that most people are impressed with just three things: how fast you can play, how high you can play, and how loud you can play.

It takes a pretty good drummer to be better than no drummer at all.

You don't know what love is, until you've learned the meaning of the blues, until you've loved a love you've had to lose.

Artt Frank is my all-time favorite drummer. He always seems to know where I'm going.

Your looks are laughable, unphotographable, yet you're my favorite work of art. Is your figure less than Greek, is your mouth a little weak? When you open it to speak, are you smart?

I don't believe that jazz will ever really die. It's a nice way to express yourself.

I like to play in the deep register. I was never a high-note specialist. My range goes from the bottom of the horn up to around C or D. High D is about it for me ... about two-and-a-half octaves, I think. But in these two-and-a-half octaves, I can say everything I have to say.