I got my first trumpet when I was six years old, from Al Hirt. My father was playing in Al Hirt's band at that time.

There was one thing Beethoven didn't do. When one of his string quartets was played, you can believe the second violin wasn't improvising.

Having heard Clifford Brown play all those fast runs, I used to really practice Clarke trumpet exercises all day long so that I could play fast. That's all I wanted to do. I was like a child with a toy.

The young very seldom lead anything in our country today. It's been quite some time since a younger generation pushed an older one to a higher standard.

My older brother and myself always played together in bands, but we never knew we would be professional musicians.

Jazz music celebrates life! Human life; the range of it, the absurdity of it, the ignorance of it, the greatness of it, the intelligence of it, the sexuality of it, the profundity of it. And it deals with it. In all of its... It deals with it!

If you're not making mistakes, you're not trying.