I'd actually been making my living as an organist with bands since I was probably 15 or 16 years old, and then as a senior in high school I put together a jazz quintet called The Bobby Mack Jazz Quintet.

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.

Inviting audiences to open up and hear things differently is an important part of what I do. But I still love to sing songs with words, too.

In every life we have some trouble, but when you worry you make it double. Don't worry. Be happy.

When you worry your face will frown, that will bring everybody down, so don't worry BE HAPPY!:)

It's not that I don't love the song. My songs are like my children: some you want around and some you want to send off to college as soon as possible.

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.