I was born with music inside me

Sometimes my dreams are so deep that I dream that I'm dreaming.

Music is nothing separate from me. It is me... You'd have to remove the music surgically.

It's like Duke Ellington said, there are only two kinds of music - good and bad. And you can tell when something is good.

Learning to read music in Braille and play by ear helped me develop a damn good memory.

You ask me what I'd like to do that I haven't done and I say 'Nothin'!' I haven't any mountains to climb or oceans to swim. I've been an extremely blessed individual. ... I'm not clamorin' for more trinkets. If I were to die tomorrow, I could say I've had a good life.

I don't sing a song unless I feel it. The song don't tug at my heart, I pass on it. I have to believe in what I'm doing.