As I got older though I wanted a life of my own. The classical training was very demanding and thorough. It was a very sheltered existence. Even though I heard blues and gospel on the radio sometimes, it was always back to the piano and study and give recitals.

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.

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.

You don't have to live next to me / Just give me my equality.

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.

It was always Marx, Lenin, and revolution - real girl's talk.

I think if I were over there in America, protest music would be more important. But I'm not going.