Let My Children Have Music!

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.

I'm Trying To Play The Truth Of What I Am. The Reason It's Difficult Is Because I'm Changing All The Time.

Life Has Many Changes. Tomorrow It May Rain, And It's Supposed To Be Sunshine, 'cause It's Summertime. But God's Got A Funny Soul, He Plays Like Charlie Parker.

I'm Too Busy Playing. When I'm Playing I Don't Pay Attention To Who's Listening. When I Was Listening I Listened To Symphony Orchestras, Beethoven, Bach, Brahms, Stravinsky. You Don't Listen To One Instrument; You Listen To Music.

My Son's A Painter. All Through School His Teachers Tell Him He's A Genius. I Tell Him To Paint Me An Apple That Looks Like An Apple Before He Paints Me One That Doesn't. Go Where You Can Go, But Start From Someplace Recognizable.