"I'd like to play for you one of my compositions, my only composition."

"I think the idea is now for blacks to write about the history of our music. It's time for that, because whites have been doing it all the time. It's time for us to do it ourselves and tell it like it is."

"I always try to teach by example and not force my ideas on a young musician. One of the reasons we're here is to be a part of this process of exchange."

"It's taken me all my life to learn what not to play."

"They're not particular about whether you're playing a flatted fifth or a ruptured 129th as long as they can dance to it."

"I don't care much about music. What I like is sounds."

"Men have died for this music. You can't get more serious than that."