I used to do a lot of apologizing for what the State Department had done.

There have been two great revelations in my life: The first was bepop, the second was homeopathy.

You can't steal a gift. Bird [Charlie Parker] gave the world his music, and if you can hear it you can have it.

Mutual respect is so important because as soon as it disappears in relations between you and the next person, there's trouble.

I try to play the bare essence, to let everything be just what it's supposed to be in that particular spot...You have many things to pick from when you're playing, so you try to train yourself to pick out the best things that you know.

The sign of a mature musician is knowing what not to play.

Bop is at the end of the road. Now everybody wants dance music.