To be granted some kind of usable talent and to be able to use it to the fullest extent of which you are capable - this, to me, is a kind of joy that is almost unequaled.

There are good days and there are bad days, and this is one of them.

Duke Ellington was famous for hs very original harmonic patterns.

This is the best biography by me I have ever read.

I played a Spaniard. I looked about as Spanish as any other fair-skinned German.

It's curious how we act in moments of personal despair.

One time I introduced my orchestra as the Shampoo Music Makers instead of the Champagne Music Makers.