It takes a long time to sound like yourself.

Catch Harry Belafonte. He's got a helluva rhythm section.And so have the Pointer Sisters. And that little guy with Sammy Clayton. He plays the whole show with 40 members.

You can tell whether a person plays well or not by the way he carries the instrument, whether it means something to him or not.

You know why I quit playing ballads? Cause I love playing ballads.

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

I don't wanna talk about Teo [Macero]. He's a helluva musician, a brilliant musician, but he's just not for me, that's all. I can elaborate on it, but I don't want to do that.

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.