The fabulous places I've been, wonderful things that've happened, great people I've met ought to make a story.

When I'm on stage I feel at home

I've had some wonderful love affairs and some that didn't work out. I don't want to dwell on that and I don't want to put people down, but I think all the fabulous places I've been, the wonderful things that have happened for me, the great people I've met - that ought to make a story.

Some kids in Italy call me 'Mama Jazz; I thought that was so cute. As long as they don't call me 'Grandma Jazz.'

Sometimes when we're flying or in the hotel, I might run over songs, or in the bathroom.

Everybody wants to know about my style and how it came about. It's no big secret. It's the way I feel.

Once, when we were playing at the Apollo Theater, Holiday was working a block away at the Harlem Opera House. Some of us went over between shows to catch her, and afterwards we went backstage. I did something then, and I still don't know if it was the right thing to do—I asked her for her autograph.