I do not believe in mixing of the races. You can quote me. I don't believe in it, and I never have. I've never changed. I've never changed my hair. I've never changed my color, I have always been proud of myself, and my fans are proud of me for remaining the way I've always been. I married a white man one time, but he was a creep

Jazz is not just music, it's a way of life, it's a way of being, a way of thinking. . . . the new inventive phrases we make up to describe things - all that to me is jazz just as much as the music we play.

I had spent many years pursuing excellence, because that is what classical music is all about... Now it was dedicated to freedom, and that was far more important.

It's a good time for black people to be alive.

Everything that happened to me as a child involved music. It was part of everyday life, as automatic as breathing.

If I want to take a particular form of blues somewhere else I have the equipment to do it but I never even thought of it.

What is love but a prelude to sorrow...with heartache ahead for your goal.