“I teach at Duke, and I have students who are all of twenty who want to...” — Oscar Hijuelos Quote

“I teach at Duke, and I have students who are all of twenty who want to write memoirs, and you know it's all pretty interesting stuff, but a lot of them lack gravitas, you know.”

“I have never - I have never let go of my childhood contacts. My best friends from childhood are still my best friends.”

“I enjoy listening to contemporary rock on the college stations while I'm taking long walks, love gospel and soul music, am fascinated by hip-hop and rap as the new kind of urban 'beat' poetry and, come to think of it, find something interesting about just any kind of music.”

“Thundercat put me on to George Duke.”

“I owe my career to 'Duke.'”

“I do very few standards. Hardly any. Other people's tunes that I do are usually obscure tunes, for the most part, although I do a couple of Duke Ellington tunes that are well known.”