At least one day out of the year all musicans should just put their instruments down, and give thanks to Duke Ellington.

To keep creating you have to be about change.

In high school I was best in music class on the trumpet, but the prizes went to the boys with blue eyes. I made up my mind to outdo anybody white on my horn.

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

I usually write from the rhythm section...If a drummer got a funky beat on some things - like a half-shuffle or a shuffle or a backbeat that's even - I can write something.

I couldn't do "What's Love Got To Do With It", Tina Turner because it wasn't the right tempo; so I scratched it from the record. I wanted to do it about a year ago, but something happened.

You have to practice for a long time before you can learn to sound like yourself