I'm a real rebel with a cause.

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

Through music you can become sad, joyful, loving, you can learn. You can learn mathematics, touch, pacing... Oh my God! Ooh... Wow... You can see colors through music. Anything!

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.

Many times I feel different like a different person.

I applied for a scholarship to Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. I knew I was good enough, but they turned me down. And it took me about six months to realize it was because I was black. I never really got over that jolt of racism at the time.

It's time to take a look at my failures and stop calling them successes. Now I can start working at something that can use me best.