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

Man, as long as people want to hear Jazz, I'll give it to them.

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.

It's always Jazz. You can put a new dress on her, a new hat, but no matter what kind of clothes she's the same old broad.

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.