My father was a preacher in Maryland and we had crab feasts - with corn on the cob, but no beer, being Methodist - outside on the church lawn.

My father was strict, but he recognised my ability and got a lot of flak from the church for supporting me.

My father is convinced that if I hadn't been a minister's daughter, I wouldn't have anything to write about,

So the first job that I got - my father got it for me - he had his clerical collar on, was a gay bar in D.C., it was Mr. Henry's of Georgetown.

My grandfather was a Methodist preacher, and my father was an unsuccessful businessman. We didn't have status or wealth.

My mother says I was two-and-a-half when I started playing. My father was a minister, and when he went to church in the morning, she would put on Fats Waller, Billie Holiday, Nat King Cole and Cole Porter records. I'd crawl up on the piano stool, sit on a phone book and play.