My goal as a creative person is to express truth and beauty in whatever I do

Just give a drum roll, announce my name & I come out & sing. I have a contract that says I'm a singer. So I sing.

"Benedetto" means the "blessed one" and I feel that I have truly been blessed.

More than anybody else I’d like to thank Count Basie for teaching me how to perform.

I know the history of the record business so well because I followed Billie Holiday into the record studios. It was so primitive compared to the sophisticated business today.

I'm not the type of person who likes to look backwards. I've always felt compelled to move forward and I've never been one to dwell in the past. All the people I've met, all the places I've been, and all the things that I've done have simply been part of who I am.

If you follow your passion, you'll never work a day in your life.