It is an artist's duty to reflect the times.

To most white people, jazz means black and jazz means dirt, and that's not what I play. I play black classical music.

Jazz is a white term to define black people. My music is black classical music.

When I was studying... there weren't any black concert pianists. My choices were intuitive, and I had the technique to do it. People have heard my music and heard the classic in it, so I have become known as a black classical pianist.

Music is a gift and a burden I've had since I can remember who I was.

I don't like drug addicts and she sounds like a cat.

I only knew classical music, which to me was the only true music. The only way I could survive at the bar was to mix the classical music with popular songs, and that meant I had to sing. What happened was that I discovered I had a voice plus the talent to mix classical music together with more popular songs, which at the time I detested.

It's time to take a look at my failures and stop calling them successes. Now I can start working at something that can use me best.

Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," a song that was written for Simone, she confronted the band's lead singer, Eric Burdon. "So you're the honky," she said, "who stole my song and got a hit out of it?