[Being judge] is about being honest and giving everybody a fair shot and telling them what you think. Sometimes it's good and sometimes it isn't. It's more important to be honest than say things to make people feel better. I don't think you have to be rude, but I think you have to be honest. But I think it's really important to be specific: Here's what you did that was great and why. And here's what you did that wasn't great and why.

[When asked how he's keeping his 12-year marriage to wife Jill fresh] Hookers, drugs. We're playing the field right now.

New Orleans is my essence, my soul, my muse...

My life is spontaneous and things just kind of happen.

My Dad is my hero. He's 85 now and he is in great health. He is handsome and strong. He has an incredible moral and ethical backbone. I couldn't have been luckier with my parents.

It is jazz music that called me to be a musician and I have always sang the songs that moved me the most.

I say sorry to my wife about five times a day for various reasons.