He worked with a lot of white musicians and arrangers. In the 1962 Playboy interview, he famously said, "I think prejudice one way is just as bad as the other

He worked with a lot of white musicians and arrangers. In the 1962 Playboy interview, he famously said, "I think prejudice one way is just as bad as the other way. I wouldn't have no other arranger but Gil Evans -- we couldn't be much closer if he was my brother. And I remember one time when I hired Lee Konitz, some colored cats bitched a lot about me hiring an ofay in my band when Negroes didn't have work. I said if a cat could play like Lee, I would hire him, I didn't give a damn if he was green and had red breath."