Music Is My Mistress And She Plays

In Music, As You Develop A Theme Or Musical Idea, There Are Many Points At Which Directions Must Be Decided, And At Any Time I Was In The Throes Of Debate With Myself, Harmonically Or Melodically, I Would Turn To Billy Strayhorn. We Would Talk, And Then The Whole World Would Come Into Focus. The Steady Hand Of His Good Judgment Pointed To The Clear Way That Was Fitting For Us. He Was Not, As He Was Often Referred To By Many, My Alter Ego. Billy Strayhorn Was My Right Arm, My Left Arm, All The Eyes In The Back Of My Head, My Brainwaves In His Head, And His In Mine.

Dancing Is Very Important To People Who Play Music With A Beat. I Think That People Who Don't Dance, Or Who Never Did Dance, Don't Really Understand The Beat... I Know Musicians Who Don't And Never Did Dance, And They Have Difficulty Communicating.

Put It This Way: Jazz Is A Good Barometer Of Freedom... In Its Beginnings, The United States Of America Spawned Certain Ideals Of Freedom And Independence Through Which, Eventually, Jazz Was Evolved, And The Music Is So Free That Many People Say It Is The Only Unhampered, Unhindered Expression Of Complete Freedom Yet Produced In This Country.

The Problem Of Expressing The Contributions That Benny Carter Has Made To Popular Music Is So Tremendous It Completely Fazes Me, So Extraordinary A Musician Is He.

It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing.