I know you're supposed to set goals for yourself. I see all that motivational stuff on television. Think about the future, what's next! But I'm all into the journey. It's fascinating to me. So if I make certain what I want moment to moment, I'm cool at the crossroads.

There was a train that would come by our house every night, and I'd hear the whistle blow. That is the sweetest memory I have.

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

I cringed when I heard myself described as a Jazz singer. I've always thought of myself as a Jazz vocalist.

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

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

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