I was blessed that I got married early and had a good wife. That sort of kept me straight. Probably I would have been like Charlie Parker, you know, involved in drugs or alcohol or something like that if I hadn't had this stability.

Everyone wants to put people on, I think. And get away with it! That's the thing: put people on and get away with it! That's a science in itself.

Men have died for this music. You can't get more serious than that.

Kenny Burrell is the grand master of jazz guitar.

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

Some days you get up and put the horn to your chops and it sounds pretty good and you win. Some days you try and nothing works and the horn wins. This goes on and on and then you die and the horn wins.

Jazz will be the classical music of the future.