- 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.
- I am famous because I am an African American jazz artist.
-…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.
- I often wonder whether Negroes like myself who are pretty well known help out at all in breaking down barriers.
- 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 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.
- Only time, education and plenty of good schooling will make anti-segregation work.
- 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.
- Critics don't buy records. They get 'em free.
- For years the Trio did nothing but play for musicians and other hip people. We practically starved to death.
- I am an American citizen and feel I am entitled to the same rights as any other citizen.
- I can't bear to see myself even in movies. The feeling is complex. I can't stand the sight of myself.
- The people who know nothing about music are the ones always talking about it.
- If I could read it, I could play it.
- 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.
- Oh, my darling, it’s incredible, that someone so unforgettable should think I am unforgettable, too.”
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