Being a musician is what I do, but it's not what I am.

We need to move into a culture of peace. What I hope to promote is the idea that we all need each other and that the greatest happiness in life is not how much we have but how much we give. That's a wealth that's priceless. You can't buy compassion.

I don't view myself as a musician anymore - I view myself as a human being that functions as a musician when I'm functioning as a musician, but that's not 24 hours a day. That's really opened me up to even more perspectives because now I look at music, not from the standpoint of being a musician, but from the standpoint of being a human being.

Buddhism has turned me on to my humanness, and is challenging my humanness so that I can become more human.

I like the idea of an eclectic approach, incorporating jazz with other forms and other genres of music.

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

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.