All Quotes

I always read all these books about the slaves. My mother is very educated. My father would talk to us like we were grown men. We never knew what he was talking about half the time. ”

I got my first trumpet when I was six years old, from Al Hirt. My father was playing in Al Hirt's band at that time. ”

I had to figure out how to survive in New York, and most of my time was occupied in getting an apartment and getting money. A lot of older jazz guys looked out for me and found me gigs and places to stay. ”

Swing is extreme coordination. It's a maintaining balance, equilibrium. It's about executing very difficult rhythms with a panache and a feeling in the context of very strict time. So, everything about the swing is about some guideline and some grid and the elegant way that you negotiate your way through that grid. ”

This rebuilding of New Orleans gives us the perfect opportunity to see if we're ready to extend the legacy of Dr. King. ”

It was Dr. King's tireless activism that fostered our modern way of relating to one another. ”

I generally work right up to when I have to do something - I'm always doing a lot. ”

Ethics are more important than laws. ”

As a jazz musician, you have individual power to create the sound. You also have a responsibility to function in the context of other people who have that power also. ”

Through first-class education, a generation marches down the long uncertain road of the future with confidence. ”