If You Have To Ask What Jazz

There's Only Two Ways To Sum Up Music; Either It's Good Or It's Bad. If It's Good You Don't Mess About It, You Just Enjoy It.

A Lot Of The Musicians Asked Me If When I Hit My High-cs On The Records I Had A Clarinet Take The Notes. Some [thought] I Had Invented Some Kind Of Gadget So I Could Play High Register. They Weren't Satisfied Until They Handed Me A Trumpet That They Had With Them And Had Me Swing It. Then They Cheered.

Musicians In My Day Had Nicknames. My Name Was "satchel Mouth," Like A Doctor's Satchel. When I Went To England This Fellow Was Strictly English, And He Was Editor Of The Newspaper There. He Shook My Hand After I Got Off The Train And Said, "hello, Satchmo." So Right Away My Trombone Player Said, "mmm, The Man Thinks You Have Mo' Mouth Than Satchel Mouth." So I Was Stuck With It, And It Turned Out All Right.

I'll Bet Right Now Most Of The Youngsters And Hot Club Fans Who Hear The Name Storyville Hasn't The Least Idea That It Consisted Of Some Of The Biggest Prostitutes In The World ... Standing In Their Doorways Nightly In Their Fine And Beautiful Negligees -- Faintly Calling To The Boys As They Passed Their Cribs.

If I Don’t Practice For A Day, I Know It. If I Don’t Practice For Two Days, The Critics Know It. And If I Don’t Practice For Three Days, The Public Knows It.