I went with Lionel Hampton for three years. Out of that came a trip to Europe.

We were in the heart of the ghetto in Chicago during the Depression, and every block - it was probably the biggest black ghetto in America - every block also is the spawning ground practically for every gangster, black and white, in America too.

The only music I don't like is bad music.

I've met every freak in the business.

Prince.. a true artist in every sense of the world.Gone way too soon.

To me it's no accident that all the symphony orchestras around the world tune up to the note A. And A is 440 cycles, except in Germany where it's 444. But the universe is 450 cycles. So what I'm trying to say is, I think it's God's voice, melody especially. Counterpoint, retrograde inversion, harmony... that's the science and the craft.

When you're over the hill, that's when you pick up speed.