We did not get any money from the early records. It was all taken by crooked managers. It is just a gangster's paradise.

When I'm singing I try not be a singer with a capital S. I just try to get it out so I feel comfortable with it.

Being big and famous doesn't get you more freedom, it gets you less.

I can't imagine my life without the extraordinary bebop jazz revolution in New York in late '40s and '50s.

On the whole, I tend not to listen to my peers.

I would encourage people to realize that you don't have to panic if you're not part of a mainstream, or if you find yourself outside the flow. If it doesn't suit you, don't go along with it. Just sit it out and get your stuff done. Don't just sit moaning or getting drunk—I spent some years doing that. But if you can just come up with something of your own, however minor it is, that's going to be easier to live with when you're at the end of your life.

It just doesnt mean anything to me, the high-profile, big money side of things. I just want enough to live on, and to be able to get on with what I do, and hang around my friends.