There's no excuse for the young people not knowing who the heroes and heroines are or were.

Slavery has never been abolished from America's way of thinking.

I was always a politician from the day the civil rights people chose me as their protest singer.

As far as piano players are concerned, Oscar Peterson is my very favorite. I also like McCoy Tyner. I think that the big jazz stars, both now and in the past...how shall I say it? These guys are as great as Bach, Beethoven; all of them. People don't know it yet. If jazz survives and is put on a pedestal as an art form, the same as classical music has been through the years, a hundred years from now the kids will know who they were, with that kind of respect.

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

When I choose material for an album all these songs I grew up with pour into my head.

To most white people, jazz means black and jazz means dirt, and that's not what I play. I play black classical music.