I Am The First Instrument. I Am

There Are Men And Women Still On The Streets, And That's All They Are Saying Can You Spare A Quarter? I Come From A Crowd Of People Who Were Current On The Outlook On Life, Who Were Social And Knew Where They Were And Had Some Input Into How Things Seemed To Be.

It's A Spirit That Was Given Me And The Relationships And Meeting All These Great People, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong; Through Max I Met A Lot Of People Too. My First Album Was With Benny Carter.

I Was In New York, Miserable Because I Was Working Supper Clubs But I Wasn't Expressing Myself. I Was Really Unhappy With My Life. I Saw Max Roach Again And He Told Me I Didn't Have To Do Things Like That. He Made Me An Honest Woman On The Stage. I Have Been Performing In That Tradition Since. I Feel That I'm A Serious Performer Now Whereas Then I Wanted To Be But I Didn't Know How.

But I've Been There And Done That. I'm Not Trying To Prove Anything To Anybody, And If Somebody Wants Me To Come, If They Can Afford What I Ask, It's Not As Much As Madonna Makes; Not That I Want What Madonna Makes, But I Was Saying.

I Am The First Instrument. I Am The Voice. I Do Not Imitate Other Instruments. Other Instruments Imitate Me.