My people have very subtle slang, inflections and ways of saying things that has little to do with words. If you're from the same place, you'll feel the jargon and know exactly what's happening. Same with any neighborhood cat. What he sees and hears and feels and lives makes him what he is. That's what blues is.

I have a cultured manner of speaking.

You can't be different if you look at it. Being gifted is different. I had that in my piano playing. I'm very thankful for that. I'm very aware of that. The style and what I fed is just me. I never worked at it. It just happened.

It's logical that people from bad times will reflect their feelings in their communication. Music is part of the communication. If you lived it, you can do it.

My singing, if you want to call it that is merely another medium of expression. Just an instrument I play. That's how I see my voice.

Jazz is not just music, it's a way of life, it's a way of being, a way of thinking.

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.