My father's rich, my momma's good looking. Right? And I can play the Blues. I've never suffered and don't intend to suffer.

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.

Jazz musicians are so comfortable. The reason they can't do what we do is because they're so comfortable doin' what they do.

Sometimes, if you ask people to "go downstairs and get me this or that," they'll say, "It's rainin" or "It might rain," or "There's some bumpy roads on the road," or bla-bla-bla. They give you all those excuses, so when they do something which is easy, you're supposed to say, "Damn, you did that?"

Certain drummers drop time, and I like to play on top of the beat.

Drummers - sometimes they play and they listen. And that little listen takes a speck away from the right tempo.

It's like, how did Columbus discover America when the Indians were already here? What kind of s-- is that, but white people's s--?