As a youngster in the little orphanage home in New Orleans, I was the bugler of the institution. When I got to be around 13 or 14 years old, they took me off the bugle and put me in the little brass band.

Never play a thing the same way twice.

All them weird chords which don't mean a thing...you got no melody to remember, and no beat to dance to

Musicians don't retire; they stop when there's no more music in them.

As many bands as you heard [in New Orleans], that's how many bands you heard playing right. I thought I was in Heaven playing second trumpet in the Tuxedo Brass Band -- and they had some funeral marches that would just touch your heart, they were so beautiful.

I don't need words. It's all in the phrasing.

Music is either good or bad, and it's got to be learned. You got to have balance.