I'm Always Hoping For The Nights That

I Wasn't Allowed To Play In Some Universities In The United States And Out Of Twenty-five Concerts, Twenty-three Were Canceled Unless I Would Substitute My Black Bass Player For My Old White Bass Player, Which I Wouldn't Do.

Jazz Is About Freedom Within Discipline. Usually A Dictatorship Like In Russia And Germany Will Prevent Jazz From Being Played Because It Just Seemed To Represent Freedom, Democracy And The United States.

So Often People Will Say That I Converted To The Catholic Religion. This Is False. Although I Was Raised As A Protestant, I Was Never Baptized And Had Never Been A Member Of Any Church. I Joined The Roman Catholic Church After I Had Written My Mass To Hope!during The Night I Dreamt The Entire Lord's Prayer With Chorus And Orchestra. I Jumped Out Of Bed And Wrote Down What I Had Heard As Accurately As I Could Remember. Because Of This Event I Decided That I Might As Well Join The Catholic Church Because Someone Somewhere Was Pulling Me Toward That End.

The Worst Thing About The Life Of A Jazz Musician On The Road Is Getting To The Gig. Once You're There And Playing, It's Marvelous.

I Don't Think You Can Separate A Person's "style" And His Persona. If You're Writing Or Improvising Honestly, You Will Inevitably Reflect Who You Are.