Quotes

When I left Germany [1950] I left everything German behind. The way they taught it, Germany was the only country that could save the world. Reality for me was a lie. By 1945, when it collapsed...we realized we'd been lied to for the first twelve years of our lives. I didn't want to have much to do with Germany. As a Hitler youth I had to take an oath to die for the swastika. And here [in the American] Air Force I had to swear to two flags. It makes you think about a lot of things.

[as one of the few white musicians playing jazz in the U Street corridor of Washington DC] I had all black cats in my band so I played on the black scale which was less than the white Union. We'd go from one juke joint to another and pass the hat. My nickname was 'Snowflake'. Those were glorious days for me.