I was always very aware of drummers. My oldest brother Henry was a drummer, and he drummed on everything in the house from the kitchen sink to stovepipes. He was the first drummer in the Gil Evans Orchestra, so you've got to know how great he was.

I had the first integrated Army band in World War II.

When things are going well, I hate to quit.

I wanted to be like my father, who was a cattle man and a rodeo roper. And that was - he was my hero, and I wanted to be more like him.

Jazz is about the only form of art existing today in which there is freedom of the individual without the loss of group contact.

I knew even if I'm a cowboy, I'm going to be involved in jazz in some way.

If there's a deadline, I work late. If not, I like to have normal hours, and get up early and work. When things are going well, I hate to quit. And then I'll work 'till exhausted.