I remember the day tDr. King died. I wasn't angry at the beginning. It was like something very personal in my life had been touched and finished.

Count Basie isn't just a man, or even just a band. He's a way of life.

I want to sing like Aretha Franklin. Before her I wanted the technical ability of Ella Fitzgerald.

I'm still learning, you know. At 80, I feel there is a lot I don't know.

I learned from Ethel Waters, Duke Ellington, Adelaide Hall, the Nicholas Brothers, the whole thing, the whole schmear. [The Cotton Club] was a great place because it hired us, for one thing, at a time when it was really rough [for Black performers].

After I got over the terrible pain of having something of mine taken from me, I began to think how bad everybody else must be feeling. It wasn't a nice time.

Nobody black or white who really believes in democracy can stand aside now; everybody's got to stand up and be counted.