I don't look at music from the standpoint of being a musician; I look at it from the standpoint of being a human being.

Inspiration is constantly in the air. It's up to us to develop the sensitivity to pick up on it.

I don't mind being classified as a jazz artist, but I do mind being restricted to being a jazz artist. My foundation has been in jazz, though I didn't really start out that way. I started in classical music, but my formative years were in jazz, and it makes a great foundation.

In the past, there's always been one leader that has led the pack to development of the music.

Globalization means we have to re-examine some of our ideas, and look at ideas from other countries, from other cultures, and open ourselves to them. And that's not comfortable for the average person.

It pulled me like a magnet, jazz did, because it was a way that I could express myself.

In World War II, jazz absolutely was the music of freedom, and then in the Cold War, behind the Iron Curtain, same thing. It was all underground, but they needed the food of freedom that jazz offered.