Jazz Is The Language Of The Emotions.

I Always Thought That No Matter What Kind Of Work People Did, They Should Involve Themselves Totally With All The Discrimination They Ran Into.

I Was Born Swinging And Clapped My Hands In Church As A Little Boy, But I've Grown Up And I Like To Do Things Other Than Just Swing. But Blues Can Do More Than Just Swing.

I, Myself, Came To Enjoy The Players Who Didn't Only Just Swing But Who Invented New Rhythmic Patterns, Along With New Melodic Concepts. And Those People Are: Art Tatum, Bud Powell, Max Roach, Sonny Rollins, Lester Young, Dizzy Gillespie And Charles Parker, Who Is The Greatest Genius Of All To Me Because He Changed The Whole Era Around.

Everything I Do Is Mingus.

In My Music, I'm Trying To Play The Truth Of What I Am.