Up through and including Lincoln, American politicians nursed a fantasy of repatriating blacks to Africa.

Chano Pozo created the role of the conga soloist in the modern band, somewhat th way Coleman Hawkins created the solo tenor sax.

Like slaves on the sugar plantations of the Antilles, ...the sugar slaves of southern Louisiana had negative birthrates for as long as slavery lasted.

Miguelito, liberated from having to sing with Cugat, sounds like he just got out of jail and is letting it rip.

That spirit of mockery characteristic of the guaracha was part of the mambo from the beginning.

One often reads that the 1950s was the golden age of Cuban music, but it was really one long phase, from 1937 to 1958, each year with its own splendour.

Every farm with slaves was a slave-breeding farm. Raising slaves was mostly a cottage industry.

Dream Lies In Your Eyes.

Nothing is good for him for whom nothing is bad.

It never dawned on me at any particular time of my life that people are paid tremendous money to sing.

You should always stand up for what you believe and never stand down to promise or protect your career.

Each time I think that the song is ended ... something higher and better begins for me.

I'm alienated from this world because its weird and I don't want to be a part of it. I want to be part of the people that are more imaginative and crazy.

Whatever an education is, it should make you a unique individual, not a conformist.

If you don't know what to do with many of the papers piled on your desk, stick a dozen colleagues initials on them and pass them along. When in doubt, route.

In fact, when care appears, unconditional love often vanishes.

All David Blaine is is a good-looking magician.