Jazz Is The Language Of The Emotions.

Our Nights Didn't Begin Until After Noon. Because In The Old Days, You'd Start Birdland At 8:30 Or 9 Pm And Play Until 4 In The Morning. Then You'd Go Out To The Corner And Talk To A Couple Of Musicians - I Used To Talk To Oscar Pettiford A Whole Lot - You'd Stand There Till 7, 8 Or 9, Or Else Go Down To The Jam Session At Minton's.

Everything I Do Is Mingus.

In High School I Was On The Basketball Team, But The Coach Did Something I Didn't Dig And The Next Day He Looked Up And Saw Me Practising With The Football Team.

I Admire Anyone Who Can Come Up With Something Original. But Not Originality Alone, Because There Can Be Originality In Stupidity, With No Musical Description Of Any Emotion Or Any Beauty The Man Has Seen, Or Any Kind Of Life He Has Lived.

I Was Born Swinging And Clapped My Hands In Church As A Little Boy, But I've Grown Up And I Like To Do Things Other Than Just Swing. But Blues Can Do More Than Just Swing.