I Never Felt Like I Had A

When I Was About Five Or Seven Years Old My Mother Was Placed In A Mental Institution And So We Were With Our Father Who Worked Very Hard, And We Had To Figure A Lot Of Things Out.

Every Day, My Daddy Told Me The Same Thing. 'once A Task Is Just Begun, Never Leave It Till It's Done. Be The Labour Great Or Small, Do It Well Or Not At All.'

I Never Felt Like That In My Life. I Didn't Know Human Beings Played These Instruments. I Heard Them In Chicago And Louisville And St. Louis All My Life, You Know? But I Didn't Know Human Beings Played Them, You Know? So The Next Day I Went To Coontz Junior High School And I Started On Sousaphone, Tuba, B-flat Baritone, E-flat Alto, French Horn, Trombone.

A Lot Of The Guys Were Like That - Oscar Pettiford - They Just Took Me Under Their Wing, And That's Why I Automatically Help Young People. I Just Love It, Because They Did That For Me.

I Tell My Kids And I Tell Proteges, Always Have Humility When You Create And Grace When You Succeed, Because Its Not About You. You Are A Terminal For A Higher Power. As Soon As You Accept That, You Can Do It Forever.