The allusion was that I was actually naked. I loved that. It always, kind of shocked people enough that they became mine immediately.

How do you explain what it feels like to get on the stage and make poetry that you know sinks into the hearts and souls of people who are unable to express it

Music is a gift and a burden I've had since I can remember who I was.

That's a very high goal to have, study eight hours a day to be a concert pianist.

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.

My job is not done. I address my songs now to the third world. I am popular all over Asia and Africa and the Middle East, not to speak of South Africa, where I'm trying to go to see Nelson Mandela.

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