Every time I talk about this, I say: when the singer is singing, he must be respected, you must be able to hear what he's saying. You can't put a trombone and a drum up there, and a microphone on the drum, microphones on everybody. You can't hear what he's saying.

When it comes to musicians, I'm like the daddy of musicians here in Cuba.

The roots of Cuban music are in my head.

As far as pleasures, you've got to have limits. You shouldn't have too much of good things, so you'll always have a desire for more and you won't get bored.

As long as your heart beats, one is never too old.

Cubans are frantic when it comes to appreciating music.

The music that I play and that I like is traditional music, maybe it's because of my age.