The reasons I never set out to do a talk show is they're formulaic. People come out, tell jokes and read questions. But that's not what I do, and we built the show around my skill set.

Well, my dad was the district attorney of New Orleans for about 30 years.

I do the things I like to do. It's sort of a bigger version of having more than one hobby.

New Orleans is my essence, my soul, my muse...

With a tone so rich, I would never be afraid of the dark. Steinway is the only and the best!

There are people who can't stand me, they say, 'God, he makes me sick', or, 'He's creepy', but it doesn't affect me too badly.

'The Christmas Song,' by Nat King Cole, is not only a masterful performance; to me it just sounds like the holidays. I've never sung it, because Nat's version is so perfect. I gotta leave it alone.

With imagination, I'll get there.

It is jazz music that called me to be a musician and I have always sang the songs that moved me the most.

Safety's just danger, out of place.

In my life I find that memories of the spirit linger and sweeten long after memories of the brain have faded.

Things hurt more when you were alone, that was all.

When You Care, People Notice

Sudden success in golf is like the sudden acquisition of wealth. It is apt to unsettle and deteriorate the character.

I find when death comes, it is usually a woman that is called for.

There was madness in any direction, at any hour. You could strike sparks anywhere. There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning.

Success is doing ordinary things extraordinary well.

I think writers are prone to hyperbole sometimes.

I worked in a bookstore in Oslo, importing the English-language books.

He's a fantastic player and he's going to be around so much longer so I'm happy with every one I get before he takes them all

I don't often get a chance to have a frying pan in the show.