Remembering that life can be full of surprises is useful in any part of your life. You can try a new way of singing a song you’ve performed for years, a new way of showing your family your love for them, or a new recipe. Don’t just play the licks you know. We’re all improvising all the time — it’s good to recognize that and embrace it.

Whenever I'm onstage, I try my best not to think that I'm performing. It's simply another part of my day.

Well, I started conducting kind of by accident. I wanted to give myself a special birthday present for my fortieth birthday, and I was living in San Francisco at the time and I started attending some of the concerts and then simply dropping hints.

The true musician is to bring light into people's hearts.

Music is so powerful, it needs to be used for some kind of redeeming work. To lift peoples spirits, to lift their souls.

Improvisation is the courage to move from one note to the next.

I use the audience as my color palette, my instrument.