I got a chance to work with Miles Davis, and that changed everything for me, 'cause Miles really encouraged all his musicians to reach beyond what they know, go into unknown territory and explore. It's made a difference to me and the decisions that I've made over the years about how to approach a project in this music.

The strongest thing that any human being has going is their own integrity and their own heart. As soon as you start veering away from that, the solidity that you need in order to be able to stand up for what you believe in and deliver what's really inside, it's just not going to be there.

A great teacher is one who realizes that he himself is also a student and whose goal is not dictate the answers, but to stimulate his students' creativity enough so that they go out and find the answers themselves.

It's not the style that motivates me, as much as an attitude of openness that I have when I go into a project.

The value of music is to be able to play one note at the right time in the right way.

Jazz is a music that is open enough to borrow from any other form of music, and has the strength to influence any other form of music.

Don't be afraid to expand yourself, to step out of your comfort zone. That's where the joy and the adventure lie.