My father had all kinds of instruments in the house that he would hide from my mother. He bought them through mail order!

My grandmother sang, too, and she was really loud. It was this wild kind of singing. I count her among my influences.

Being black, I'm involved in the reparations movement. It's focused toward the African-American audience. We could begin to heal.

Miles Davis was doing something inherently African, something that has to do with all forms of American music, not just jazz.

I'm always looking for ways to develop as a Jazz artist, to find different ways of using my voice.

Everything I do is collaborative. It's just my way. I'm really very interested in how the other musicians perceive the song.

I'm always imagining some sort of story behind the song, even the ones I haven't written. I'm actively engaging in playacting.