If I told you all the people that have secretly told me I've influenced them, you'd never believe it, and you'll never see it in print, either.

Jazz isn't dead yet. It's the underpinning of everything in this country. Whether it's a Broadway show, or fusion, or right on through classical music, if it's coming out of the U.S., it's not going to survive unless it's got some jazz influence.

You could play probably a span of 50 years of me playing St. Louis Blues, and most of the time it will be different every time.

Every individual should be expressing themselves, whether a politician or a minister or a policeman.

Jazz is about freedom within discipline.

My own Brubeck Institute in California is turning out fantastic young jazz players, and I know great things will happen.

Art may not have the power to change the course of history, but it can provide a perspective on historical events that needs to be heard, even if it's seldom heeded. After all the temporary influences that once directed the course of history have vanished, great art survives and continues to speak to each generation.