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

If you asked anybody in my family, they would have very stridently proclaimed themselves middle class. My mother and father were separated, so he doesn't count.

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

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.

There is an apprenticeship system in jazz. You teach the young ones. So even if the musicians weren't personally that likable, they felt an obligation to help the younger musicians.

Most blues don't have a beginning, middle, or end. You just cut a couple slices of blues.

By the mid-70s, I wanted to get out of the business. I was tired anyway.