Tom Jones is funny to me, man. I mean, he really tries to ape Ray Charles and Sammy Davis, you know. He's nice-looking; he looks good doing it. I mean, if I was him, I'd do the same thing. If I was only thinking about making money.

Jazz is an Uncle Tom word. They should stop using that word for selling. I told George Wein the other day that he should stop using it.

It's not the notes you play, it's the notes you don't play.

In music, silence is more important than sound.

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

If you hit a wrong note, it's the next note that you play that determines if it's good or bad.

We're not going to play the blues anymore. Let the white folks play the blues. They got 'em, so they can keep 'em.