The music field was the first to break down racial barriers, because in order to play together, you have to love the people you are playing with, and if you have any racial inhibitions, you wouldn't be able to do that.

If you have something to say of any worth then people will listen to you.

I believe in using the entire piano as a single instrument capable of expressing every possible musical idea.

I'm a musician and, just as the critics are hard on me, I'm hard on the critics.

I don't require lust, sex, or classic beauty; I require trust, respect, and honesty. All else builds from there.

I don't believe that a lot of the things I hear on the air today are going to be played for as long a time as Coleman Hawkins records or Brahms concertos.

I don't do something because I think it will sell 30 million albums. I couldn't care less. If it sells one, it sells one.