The bandstand is a sacred place.

The best way to be, is to do.

The first time I ever played the trumpet in public, I played the Marine Hymn. I sounded terrible.

The musicians I respected were much older than me. I expected them to cut my head, and they did.

The rebuilding of New Orleans is an important point in the history of the United States.

There was one thing Beethoven didn't do. When one of his string quartets was played, you can believe the second violin wasn't improvising.

There's the tradition in jazz of having the Battle of the Bands, and you do not want to get your head cut when you're playing.

This rebuilding of New Orleans gives us the perfect opportunity to see if we're ready to extend the legacy of Dr. King.

Through first-class education, a generation marches down the long uncertain road of the future with confidence.

We looked up to our father. He still is much greater than us.

What I really have in my head, my imagination, my understanding of music, I never really get that out.

What, other than injustice, could be the reason that the displaced citizens of New Orleans cannot be accommodated by the richest nation in the world?

When did we begin to lose faith in our ability to effect change?

When I first came to New York everybody on the scene would treat me like I could play, but I couldn't.

Whenever you face a man who's playing your instrument, there's a competition.

My daddy expected that my brothers and I and our generation would make the world a better place. He had lived in an America of continual social progress.

Don't worry about what others say about your music. Pursue whatever you are hearing... but if everybody really hates your music maybe you could try some different approaches.

I always read all these books about the slaves. My mother is very educated. My father would talk to us like we were grown men. We never knew what he was talking about half the time.

I feel like a lot of the fundamental material, I've assimilated. So now the question is: Am I going to really get into my spiritual inheritance of music and really develop my abilities?

It's important to address young people in the reopening of New Orleans. In rebuilding, let's revisit the potential of American democracy and American glory.