My name is on the thing, but the reality of it is, when I get up there on stage, I'm part of a band. I'm part of a unit. It's like a basketball team.

Music is just kind of an expression of who I am. It's what I do.

Instrumental music is increasingly marginalized.

In regard to music, I just think that it's always best to have an attitude of being a perpetual student and always look to learn something new about music, because there's always something new to learn.

As a melody instrument player, it's all about getting from one note to the next, and those intervals and how you navigate your way through these vertical structures of chords. You realize that everything's moving forward and it's all linear.

Instrumental music is increasingly marginalized and there's just no outlet, there's no venue for it, in terms of media.

Ninety-nine percent of the music that was of any interest to me when I was growing up came out of the black community.