It’s like a language. You learn the alphabet, which are the scales. You learn sentences, which are the chords. And then you talk extemporaneously with the horn. It’s a wonderful thing to speak extemporaneously, which is something I’ve never gotten the hang of. But musically I love to talk just off the top of my head. And that’s what jazz music is all about.

I've done some dastardly things but what can I do except make amends and apologize?

I appreciate men like Ben Webster and Coleman Hawkins very much.

I learn something new every day.

I compulsively reach for perfection in music, often at the expense of everything else in my life.

I had a 10-year heroin habit and kicked that. Then I became an alcoholic. I drank two fifth's a day.

I never consciously tried to conceive of what my sound should be...I never tried to imitate anybody, but when you love somebody's music, you're influenced...I really don't know how I developed my sound, but it comes from a combination of my musical conception and no doubt the basic shape of the oral cavity.