You can't eat a winner's plaque.

I'm not messing around with nobody's woman. If I want a woman I go get her - you know what I mean?

I think every Negro over fifty should get a medal for putting up with all that crap.

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--?

Japanese people they hear my warmin' up and they start screamin'. They can tell it's me.It's my tone on the trumpet, it sounds like I'm speakin'.

Sometimes [playing free] doesn't happen, because maybe a guy's wife'll come in, you know, and his ego will catch him. If everybody's completely just straight-without any old ladies over here, a fourth of whisky over there; if it's balanced right, it'll come off. It has to be. But when you get egos involved with playing free, you can't do it.

Jazz is like blues with a shot of heroin!