You can't play anything on a horn that Louis Armstrong hasn't played

In respect for drummers, see, I love drummers.

I would never try and play like Harry James, because I don't like his tone - for me. It's just white. You know what I mean? He has what we black trumpet players call a white sound. But it's for white music ... I can tell a white trumpet player, just listening to a record. There'll be something he'll do that'll let me know that he's white.

In improvisation, there are no mistakes.

I don't pay no attention to what critics say about me, the good or the bad. The toughest critic I got is myself...and I'm too vain to play anything I think is bad.

I can tell. I'm gifted with that, you know. When I hear that the tempo is slightly off, it's hard for me.

Music is a funny thing when you really come to think about it.