I don't want to appear hostile, like I'm hostile to L.A. or that I feel that the people don't appreciate jazz. I don't think it's that. I think it's something more. It's something a little bit more complicated than that.

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

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

I think what we need is a more welcoming mode from the people who put on a hundred million country-western shows on television. How about a monthly jazz show?

You had many jazz musicians who lived in the United States, who had a hard time being accepted over here and had to play in sort of these inferior type dives.

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

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