We are eternally linked not just to each other but our environment.

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

It's not exclusive, but inclusive, which is the whole spirit of jazz.

When I was in my early teens, I remember coming to the conclusion that your life never ends.

Fact is that I played piano and performed, as a young kid, a Mozart piano concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra . Don't forget I was only eleven-years-old and to be on the stage at that age had tremendous impact on me. Basically love for classical music and performing as a kid on the big stage probably led toward this decision, which meant that music is going to be my big love but also my profession.

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

So much of what I create has been due to the influence of Miles Davis and Donald Byrd, and so many of those that have passed on. Their music, their legacy lives on with the rest of us because we are so highly influenced by their experience and what they have given us.