I'm not supposed to be playing, the music is supposed to be playing me. I'm just supposed to be standing there with the horn, moving my fingers. The music is supposed to be coming through me; that's when it's really happening.

Jazz is the type of music that can absorb so many things and still be jazz.

I am interested in my music lasting only while I'm alive. I'm not writing for the future.

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

I think the problem starts with the general appreciation of the music in the larger society.

But if I didn't have to make money, I would still play my horn.

I'm now a legend, whether I want to be or not.