Jazz has been the voice of freedom for so many countries over the past half century.

I started off with classical music, and I got into jazz when I was about 14 years old. And I've been playing jazz ever since.

The cool thing is that jazz is really a wonderful example of the great characteristics of Buddhism and great characteristics of the human spirit. Because in jazz we share, we listen to each other, we respect each other, we are creating in the moment. At our best, we're non-judgmental.

The arts have always served relationships between people of different cultures so well. In a way, the arts function as a very serious kind of ambassador.

As a human being, I'm concerned about the world that I live in.So, I'm concerned about peace.I'm concerned about man's inhumanity to man. I'm concerned about the environment.

My father was really good with math. It's a funny thing, I don't remember my father or my mother being so mechanical-minded. My father always wanted to be a doctor, but he came from a really poor family in Georgia, and there was no way he was going to be a doctor.

Like no matter what happens, this would be the ultimate, they can make something positive happen.