All art is communication of the artists' ideas, sounds, thoughts; without that no one will support the artist.

I'm motivated. The spirit hits me and I just keep going and don't stop. The more I play, the more I can invent, the more ideas come to me.

Playing is my way of thinking, talking, communicating.

I worked hard learning harmony and theory when I was growing up in Chicago in the 1920s.

Every day I look forward to getting with my instruments, trying new things.

Gratitude is when memory is stored in the heart and not in the mind.

Playing gives me as much good feeling now as it did when I was a bitty kid.