We have something that is unique. We have our craft. We have our art. We have our desire.

Jazz is so incestuous that it's starting to kill itself.

One of the things that I loved about listening to Miles Davis is that Miles always had an instinct for which musicians were great for what situations. He could always pick a band, and that was the thing that separated him from everybody else.

The way to learn the language is to rip off other players. As Benny Golson told me, "We all start off sounding like other cats. And gradually, a lick here or there,we start to sound like ourselves. But it takes a long time to do so..." That'swhat he told me, and it worked for me.

My dad was a musician, it was just what he did, like another guy's dad drives a meat truck. Our house was normal. We weren't taken with the fact our dad was a musician.

I'm not going to play funk licks on a jazz album. That makes no sense.

Everybody talks about finding your voice. Do your homework and your voice will find you.