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

I ain't no entertainer, and ain't trying to be one. I am one thing, a musician.

You should never be comfortable, man. Being comfortable fouled up a lot of musicians.

I've gotten hernias from drummers when they drop tempo.

To keep creating you have to be about change.

The music has gotten thick. Guys give me tunes and they're full of chords. I can't play them...I think a movement in jazz is beginning away from the conventional string of chords, and a return to emphasis on melodic rather than harmonic variation. There will be fewer chords but infinite possibilities as to what to do with them.

What's swinging in words? If a guy makes you pat your foot and if you feel it down your back, you don't have to ask anybody if that's good music or not. You can always feel it.