Music, of course, is what I hear and something that I more or less live by. It's not an occupation or profession, it's a compulsion.

Music, of course, is what I hear and something that I more or less live by. It's not an occupation or profession, it's a compulsion.

I fluffed off the guy who kept requesting tunes all night, then found out he was the King's son.

The word [jazz] never lost its association with those New Orleans bordellos. In the 1920s I used to try to convince Fletcher Henderson that we ought to call what we were doing 'Negro music'. But it's too late for that now.

People do not retire. They are retired by others.

I don’t believe in categories of any kind, and when you speak of problems between blacks and whites in the U.S.A. you are referring to categories again.

If you have a great band with a mediocre drummer, you have a mediocre band. If you have a mediocre band with a great drummer, you have a great band!