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.

Everyone prays in their own language, and there is no language that God does not understand.

Yet, every time God's children have thrown away fear in pursuit of honesty-trying to communicate themselves, understood or not, miracles have happened.

I don't need time. What I need is a deadline!

Playing 'bop' is like playing Scrabble with all the vowels missing.

New music? Hell, there's been no new music since Stravinsky.

By and large, jazz has always been like the kind of a man you wouldn't want your daughter to associate with.