Trane was the perfect saxophonist for Monk's music because of the space that Monk always used. Trane could fill up all that space with all them chords and sounds he was playing then.

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--?

I keep telling Ron Lorman and them in the control room, "It's my band! The reason I have a band is because I can't stand for somebody to tell me what to do."

It's always been a gift with me, hearing music the way I do. I don't know where it comes from, it's just there and I don't question it.

So What or Kind of Blue were done in that era, the right hour, the right day. It's over; it's on the record.

Everybody ought to listen to Benny [Carter]. He's a whole musical education.

In music, silence is more important than sound.