It Don't Mean A Thing If It

Love Is Supreme And Unconditional; Like Is Nice But Limited.

The Common Root, Of Course, Comes Out Of Africa. That's The Pulse.the African Pulse. It's All The Way Back From . . . The Old Slave Chants And Up Through The Blues, The Jazz, And Up Through Rock. And It's All Got The African Pulse.

Jazz Today, As Always In The Past, Is A Matter Of Thoughtful Creation, Not Mere Unaided Instinct.

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.

Dancing Is Very Important To People Who Play Music With A Beat. I Think That People Who Don't Dance, Or Who Never Did Dance, Don't Really Understand The Beat... I Know Musicians Who Don't And Never Did Dance, And They Have Difficulty Communicating.