I can’t bear to see myself even in movies. The feeling is complex. I can’t stand the sight of myself.
I’m a musician at heart, I know I’m not really a singer. I couldn’t compete with real singers. But I sing because the public buys it.
The people who know nothing about music are the ones always talking about it.
If I could read it, I could play it.
Only time, education and plenty of good schooling will make anti-segregation work.
For years the Trio did nothing but play for musicians and other hip people. We practically starved to death.
I started out to become a jazz pianist; in the meantime I started singing and I sang the way I felt and that’s just the way it came out.
Critics don’t buy records. They get ’em free.
I am famous because I am an African American jazz artist.
I often wonder whether Negroes like myself who are pretty well known help out at all in breaking down barriers.
The whites come to applaud a Negro performer just like the colored do. When you’ve got the respect of white and colored, you can ease a lot of things.
I am an American citizen and feel I am entitled to the same rights as any other citizen.
Music is emotional, and you may catch a musician in a very unemotional mood or you may not be in the same frame of mind as the musician. So a critic will often say a musician is slipping.
I make no claim to being a business genius. You can make so much money in this business that it loses its value.
I’m an interpreter of stories. When I perform it’s like sitting down at my piano and telling fairy stories.
For years the trio did nothing but play for musicians and other hip people. We starved.
Oh, my darling, it’s incredible, that someone so unforgettable should think I am unforgettable, too.
I may be helping to bring harmony between people through my music.
I’m not playing for other musicians. We’re trying to reach the guy who works all day and wants to spend a buck at night. We’ll keep him happy.
