They're Singing Your Praises While Stealing Your

I'm Trying To Play The Truth Of What I Am. The Reason It's Difficult Is Because I'm Changing All The Time.

My Music Is Evidence Of My Souls Will To Live.

If Charlie Parker Were A Gunslinger, There'd Be A Whole Lot Of Dead Copycats

Our Nights Didn't Begin Until After Noon. Because In The Old Days, You'd Start Birdland At 8:30 Or 9 Pm And Play Until 4 In The Morning. Then You'd Go Out To The Corner And Talk To A Couple Of Musicians - I Used To Talk To Oscar Pettiford A Whole Lot - You'd Stand There Till 7, 8 Or 9, Or Else Go Down To The Jam Session At Minton's.

I Am Charles Mingus, Half Black Man, Not Even White Enough To Pass For Nothing But Black. I Am Charles Mingus, A Famed Jazzman, But Not Famed Enough To Make A Living In This Society.