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.

I like to make records sound good. I'm more like a reducer than a producer. If an artist cannot produce themselves, what's the point?

I don't care who likes it or buys it. Because if you use that criterion, Mozart would have never written Don Giovanni, Charlie Parker never would have played anything but swing music. There comes a point at which you have to stand up and say, this is what I have to do.

Humans are imperfect. That's one of the reasons that classical and jazz are in trouble. We're on the quest for the perfect performance and every note has to be right. Man, every note is not right in life.

You don't know what you like, you like what you know. In order to know what you like, you have to know everything.

If I were like a lot of other people, then it wouldn't be fun; but since I'm like me, it's okay.

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