Some of the guys I played with .. didn't go around learning more about their instruments from an intellectual point of view. All they wanted was to p….

After you’ve done all the work and prepared as much as you can, what the hell, you might as well go out and have a good time..

Creativity grows out of two things: curiosity & imagination..

I don't have any great love for Chicago. What the hell, a childhood around Douglas Park isn't very memorable. I remember the street fights and how yo….

I think my first impression (of Bix Beiderbecke) was the lasting one. I remember very clearly thinking, 'Where, what planet, did this guy come from? ….

If a guy's got it, let him give it. I'm selling music, not prejudice..

Sometimes when you start losing detail, whether it's in music or in life, something as small as failing to be polite, you start to lose substance..

To this day, I don't like people walking on stage not looking good. You have to look good. If you feel special about yourself then you're going to pl….

If I have something I want to do, I make a business of doing it..

It takes the black keys and the white keys both, to make perfect harmony..

People have often said to me, 'You're so relaxed when you play.' Relaxed my elbow. It's practice..

I think I've done a lot in this business, whether through screwball methods or not I don't know, that has helped other bands. I made a kind of road f….

When I first arrived (in New York), it seemed to me the most terrifying city in the world... all those big buildings. I remember walking on Broadway,….

As soon as it was understood that we could handle things in our own way, it was the thrill of my life to walk out on that stage with people just hemm….

You have to look good..

If you want to do something, you do it anyway, and handle the obstacles as they come..

One way or the other, if you want to find reasons why you shouldn’t keep on, you’ll find ‘em. The obstacles are all there; there are a million of ‘….

I remember Glenn Miller coming to me once, before he had his own band, saying, How do you do it? How do you get started? It's so difficult. I told hi….

Too many young musicians today want to win polls before they learn their instruments..