I was determined to play my horn against all odds, and I had to sacrifice a whole lot of pleasure to do so.

Never play a thing the same way twice

When I go to the Gate, I'll play a duet with Gabriel. Yeah, we'll play 'Sleepy Time Down South' and 'Hello, Dolly!.' Then he can blow a couple that he's been playing up there all the time.

I do believe that my whole success goes back to that time I was arrested as a wayward boy at the age of thirteen. Because then I had to quit running around and began to learn something. Most of all, I began to learn music.

I like to be against the odds.

The first time I heard Jack Teagarden on the trombone, I had goose pimples all over.