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

Somehow I suspect that if Shakespeare were alive today, he might be a jazz fan himself.

Of the One O'Clock Lab Band after hearing their performance, and sitting in with them at the White House: "I wish it were mine".

Fate is being kind to me. Fate doesn't want me to be too famous too young.

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!

Simplicity is a most complex form

If anybody was Mr. Jazz it was Louis Armstrong. He was the epitome of jazz and always will be. He is what I call an American standard, an American original. ... I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues. ... I don't need time, I need a deadline. ...There are two kinds of music. Good music, and the other kind. ... Music is my mistress, and she plays second fiddle to no one.