Be A Number One Yourself.

I Don’t Believe In Categories Of Any Kind, And When You Speak Of Problems Between Blacks And Whites In The U.s.a. You Are Referring To Categories Again.

In Music, As You Develop A Theme Or Musical Idea, There Are Many Points At Which Directions Must Be Decided, And At Any Time I Was In The Throes Of Debate With Myself, Harmonically Or Melodically, I Would Turn To Billy Strayhorn. We Would Talk, And Then The Whole World Would Come Into Focus. The Steady Hand Of His Good Judgment Pointed To The Clear Way That Was Fitting For Us. He Was Not, As He Was Often Referred To By Many, My Alter Ego. Billy Strayhorn Was My Right Arm, My Left Arm, All The Eyes In The Back Of My Head, My Brainwaves In His Head, And His In Mine.

Every Man Prays In His Own Language.

There Is Nothing To Keeping A Band Together. You Simply Have To Have A Gimmick, And The Gimmick I Use Is To Pay Them Money!

There Are 2 Rules In Life: Number 1- Never Quit Number2- Never Forget Rule Number 1.