The average music-lover hears only the production under prevailing conditions.

Composers are the only people who can hear good music above bad sounds.

I firmly believe that we have more latent musical talent in America than there is in any other country. But to dig it out there must be good music throughout the land, a lot of it. Everyone must hear it, and such a process takes time.

No nation as young as America can be expected to become immediately a power in the arts.

My religion lies in my composition.

I still feel the impulse to give young writers a hearing, and I believe I have played more unpublished compositions than any other band leader in the country.

Jazz will endure just as long people hear it through their feet instead of their brains.