The worst thing you can become in life is cynical. Cynical is like concrete. and nothing grows in concrete.

I think of music as a menu. I can't eat the same thing every day.

I would invite all Latin people to do nothing for about two weeks so you can see who really, really is running the economy I am here to give voice to the invisible.

I can show you that I have played with just about every jazz musician, every African musician, every blues musician. It's not like I'm cashing in on a false concept. This is what I do.

The best part of touring, still, is touching people's hearts and igniting my band and igniting the people into what you call a spiritual revelation is sound and emotion.

Your wrinkles either show that you're nasty, cranky, and senile, or that you're always smiling.

Whether you are doing it in the bar, the church, the strip joint, or the Himalayas, the first duty of music is to complement and enhance life.