John Lee Hooker is the funkiest man alive

When kids don't learn about their own heritage in school, they just don't care about school... But you won't see it in the history books unless we get the power to write our own history and tell our story ourselves.

I was minding my own business when something says to me, "you ought to blow trumpet." I have just been trying ever since.

If you have to ask, you'll never know.

I'll play it first and figure out what it's called later.

My ego only needs a good rhythm section

If you make a suggestion and [musicians] don't know what you mean, you have to be able to do it yourself. I often sit down on drums and show 'em just exactly what I want. And I do it and then say, "How do you do that?" It's because I know how it looks, I know what I want to hear, and I don't drop or rush any tempo. It ain't in my body, it ain't in my nephew's body.