When I'm in my normal mood, music drips from my fingers.

The extraordinary thing about my mother, she's so modest about me.

Upper berth, lower berth, that's the difference between talent and genius.

I want to say at once that I frankly believe that Irving Berlin is the greatest songwriter that has ever lived.... His songs are exquisite cameos of perfection, and each one of them is as beautiful as its neighbor. Irving Berlin remains, I think, America's Schubert.

It is always possible to create something original.

Jazz is one of the best things that you can find in your life, it can always be your friend.

When jazz is played in another nation, it is called American. When it is played in another country, it sounds false. Jazz is the result of the energy stored up in America.