I always listen to what I can leave out.

With "We Are The World," I can't even eat when I watch that on television. If I'm eatin' some food, I have to put it down. I feel very strongly about that.

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

Some day I'm gonna call me up on the phone, so when I answer, I can tell myself to shut up.

It took me twenty years study and practice to work up to what I wanted to play in this performance. How can she expect to listen five minutes and understand it?

You can't compete with Sweets' sound and time feel. It's impossible.

I can't write anything for myself. I can write when I hear like [John] Coltrane play something; I used to write chords and stuff for him to play in one bar. I can write for other people, but I don't never write for myself.