from a CBC interview (1976):
CBC: DID YOU EVER FEEL THAT YOU HAD A GREAT DEAL OF EUROPEAN INFLUENCE TO YOUR MUSIC? THERE MUST HAVE BEEN SO MUCH CONTROVERSY AT THE TIME WITH THE WEST COAST - EAST COAST, THAT WE'VE ALL READ ABOUT AND EVERYONE IS ALWAYS INFERRING CHARLIE PARKER AND JOHNNY HODGES, AND I'VE HEARD THAT YOU PLAY IN THE UPPER REGISTERS OF HODGES. WAS HODGES OF ANY INFLUENCE TO YOU AT ALL?
PD: Yes of course, but he never made a point of playing upper register notes. Willie Smith with Jimmie Lunceford was a big influence, Pete Brown who didn't especially play high notes. Actually the guys who played high notes were mainly... Woody "Corney" Katz, Dick Stabile, springs to mind he used to work with Martin & Lewis. You remember them, a great vaudeville team. No Willie Smith was my major influence at that point.