I guess I'm fortunate that I'm still around and I emphasize 'I guess', because you never can tell what musicians would be playing had they been around as long as I have.

America is deeply rooted in Negro culture: its colloquialisms; its humor; its music.

How ironic that the Negro, who more than any other people can claim America's culture as his own, is being persecuted and repressed; that the Negro, who has exemplified the humanities in his very existence, is being rewarded with inhumanity.

Improvisation is the ability to create something very spiritual, something of one's own.

I am a person who thinks about the music first in trying to achieve something musically valid.

...this is my dilemma. I'm a guy who makes things up as I go along, so nothing is ever finished - there are so many layers. So when you solo, yeah, you might get into one thing, but then, hey, everything has implications! You can hear the next level. And that's how I feel about improvising - there's always another level.

Music represents nature. Nature represents life. Jazz represents nature. Jazz is life.