Benny Carter Quotes

"In all honesty, I think I just played what I felt was right for me. And I think I would have done the same thing, even if I'd been born later, when Charlie Parker was influencing everybody. The truth is, I never gave it much thought. I just played what I had to play." - Benny Carter

Benny Carter Quotes

"I didn't know Charlie Parker well, but I spent some time with him, and he was articulate and well-spoken with a lot of curiosity about music and the world. But the only way he seems to be depicted is as a junkie. And that's not the full picture." - Benny Carter

Benny Carter Quotes

"And you know, Doc Cheatham could play saxophone too. A lot of people don't know about that. There's also someone down at the University of Miami who made a big-band recording in which he played all the parts, except for the drums." - Benny Carter

Benny Carter Quotes

"I took the eye test and passed it on the spot. Then, when he asked me to sign something, I pulled out my reading glasses." - Benny Carter

Benny Carter Quotes

"At my age, I realize that my most precious possession is time, and I've got too much unfinished work to do to spend even a minute talking about myself." - Benny Carter

Benny Carter Quotes

"[Billy Strayhorn's Compositions] made us all think a little differently about what we were doing." - Benny Carter

Benny Carter Quotes

"He's no Bill Clinton!" - Benny Carter (following a 1996 jam session with the saxophone-playing King of Thailand)