One of the greatest experiences I ever had was listening to a conversation with Joni Mitchell and Wayne Shorter. Just to hear them talking, my mouth was open. They understand each other perfectly, and they make these leaps and jumps because they don't have to explain anything.

You don't need the fame to be vital.

It's part of life to have obstacles. It's about overcoming obstacles; that's the key to happiness.

You can expand, repeat, even change keys and do other things electronically to give certain elements and phrases more cohesiveness.

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.

The thing that we possess, that machines don't, is the ability to exhibit wisdom.

One thing that sticks in my mind is that jazz means freedom and openness. It's a music that, although it developed out of the African American experience, speaks more about the human experience than the experience of a particular people.