I like Simon Cowell - look at how many great artists have come out of the U.K. because of him.

Larry Carlton is an incredibly versatile guitarist who has been a major force for guitar for many years. He is easily recognizable - all you have to do is hear him once and from that point on you'll be a fan, just like me. It gives me great pleasure to extend congratulations to Larry on his 2011 George Benson Lifetime Achievement Award. Congratulations !

The melody is the most important thing that must stay in the minds of the people who listen to you. No matter how many notes you play, you can't let them forget what the song is.

I like Simon Cowell - look at how many great artists have come out of the U.K. because of him.

The less one remembers about the day before, the more the new day will be unfettered by triviality.

Of course we've lost so many superstars who've made jazz what it is. We've lost so many musicians who created new things and changed the way we think about music and who took jazz to a new level. So jazz is suffering from that. But we still have a lot of incredible people playing jazz in the world. We have a lot of people leading the way.

The first time I tried to sing along with my guitar, everybody in the studio booed. They all said it wouldn't work.