I'm an exhibitionist, I was an exhibitionist as a kid.

Most of what I listen to now is mainstream jazz from 1935 right up to and including early bebop and cool jazz.

You can't be afraid of failure and you can't be afraid of success, because either one gets in the way of your work.

I don't think I went a year or so without a record between 1959 and 1979, sometimes two.

Honesty is the cruelest game of all, because not only can you hurt someone - and hurt them to the bone - you can feel self-righteous about it at the same time.

If I do a piece in my living room, if I practice it - and I have the tapes to prove this - it's not going to be as good as doing the same piece in front of an audience.

I cut myself off from the mainstream of jazz. It stood me in good stead later on, as a musician.