When I first started, I worked with my father, Alex 'Little Bill' Wallace; he was a guitarist like B.B. King. I was around 13 when I started, and I learned a lot by looking and listening. I learned how to be a bandleader from watching that band work.

I started composing when I was around 13, and back then, people used to say that I needed to be a composer or a performer, but I can't be good at both of them. I could never understand why anyone would say that. Jellyroll did both, Bessie Smith did both, and so did I.

Jazz infers a style, but creative music has a wider field and wider specification about it. We know it from people like Scott Joplin and on through Bessie Smith.

I don't set out to win awards. I don't think any musician does, but when you receive an award, it's an affirmation: it means that people appreciate what you do. Every award I have received is a confirmation of something I have done, and that motivates me to push a little harder.

I knew BB King when he first started out.

I learned a lot from playing those late-night, 1-to-4 A.M. gigs with my band, and playing when no one was listening.