What I Want To Happen Is To

Duke Ellington, Art Tatum, And Many Other Great Jazz Musicians Objected To Their Music Being Called Jazz. While The Outside World May Want To Put A Label On It, Those Who Create It Think Of It Just As Music, And Tend Not To Classify It.

After The Second World War, I Returned To California To Study Composition With Darius Milhaud, Who Wrote Wonderful Works Like 'le Boeuf Sur Le Toit' And 'la Cretion Du Monde.' I Especially Enjoy His Work For Two Pianos, 'scaramouche.

You Have To Be Taught To Hate.

So Often People Will Say That I Converted To The Catholic Religion. This Is False. Although I Was Raised As A Protestant, I Was Never Baptized And Had Never Been A Member Of Any Church. I Joined The Roman Catholic Church After I Had Written My Mass To Hope!during The Night I Dreamt The Entire Lord's Prayer With Chorus And Orchestra. I Jumped Out Of Bed And Wrote Down What I Had Heard As Accurately As I Could Remember. Because Of This Event I Decided That I Might As Well Join The Catholic Church Because Someone Somewhere Was Pulling Me Toward That End.

Jazz Is About Freedom Within Discipline. Usually A Dictatorship Like In Russia And Germany Will Prevent Jazz From Being Played Because It Just Seemed To Represent Freedom, Democracy And The United States.