The climate in the '50s and '60s for black performers or black people in the entertainment business was atrocious. It was atrocious.

A great song can make a terrible singer sound good, but a good singer - you put a great song on top of that, you're really in great shape!

Billy Strayhorn wrote Multicolored Blue. Billy to me is the boss of the arrangers.

You want your parents to say, "Hey, I'm proud of you." When you don't hear that, you learn to compensate. You say, "Hell, I don't need their approval. If I get my music right, I'll have everyone else's approval." I didn't understand it then, but I now know that's what happened to me.

Count Basie practically adopted me at 13. We became closer and closer and I ended up conducting for him and Sinatra.

My grandmother had this high-tech security system - a rusty nail she used to lock the door.

My son is a hip-hop producer.