My uncle gave me a trumpet, but I loved the Louis Armstrong sound and the Harry James sound and I played by ear and I played always soulful or very direct from the gut.

My uncle gave me a trumpet, but I loved the Louis Armstrong sound and the Harry James sound and I played by ear and I played always soulful or very direct from the gut.

Every song is like a painting.

I'll just tell you the way it is. You ask me what time it is and I'm gonna tell you how to build a clock.

I grew a love for helpless, defenseless things. People would give me lions and jaguars. I had cheetahs, monkeys.

When I start playing I'm just a rollercoaster of sound. I don't know what's coming next, I never do, and I sit and sign and talk to the people afterwards.

I always felt people should live with animals.