"It was 25 cents here, $6 there. At $6, one gets to thinking it's a lot of money. So then economics started dictating …"

"Miles, Thad Jones, Clark Terry, Gil Evans, myself—the reason we always stay young is because we've been part of three…"

"A guy that knows all these electronic things may be great [...] but a guy who knows acoustic and electronic is better…"

"If you're applying for credit and write that you’re an insurance salesman, or a member of the Chicago Symphony, you w…"

"[On querying the permanent use of the word "jazz"] So was the word Negro ! Yet you hardly hear it anymore—it's now Af…"

"Years ago, when I was growing up and bands like Basie and Ellington came to the Stanley Theatre in Pittsburgh, where …"

"When 1 was 7, my mother arranged for me to take piano lessons. They cost one dollar a lesson. She was a domestic. She…"

"Performing is like being the matador in a bullring. You have to be constantly concerned about what you're doing or yo…"

"When I pass a piano anywhere, I have to touch it or play it."

"[In response to a comment ("I sometime-get the feeling that Jamal would rather crawl into the piano than off the benc…"