I decided that I would be one of the biggest new names; and I actually had some little fancy business cards printed up to announce it, 'Count Basie. Beware, the Count is Here.'

Freddie Green has been my right arm for thirty years. And if he leaves the band one day, I'll probably leave with him.

All I wanted was to be big, to be in show business and to travel ... and that's what I've been doing all my life.

It's the way you play that makes it . . . Play like you play. Play like you think, and then you got it, if you're going to get it. And whatever you get, that's you, so that's your story.

I just think swing is a matter of some good things put together that you can really pat your foot by. I can't define it beyond that.

I'll always remember when I first heard Lester [Young]. I'd never heard anyone like him before. He was a stylist with a different sound. A sound I'd never heard before or since. To be honest with you, I didn't much like it at first.

If you find a note tonight that sounds good, play the same damn note every night!