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

You would not exist if you did not have something to bring to the table of life.

I'm aware that a lot of what is happening in jazz has not had a very dynamic change in a long time.

I never dreamed I would be a Goodwill Ambassador, and for UNESCO. Perfect organization. It is apolitical and it's about education, science and culture. I mean that is what I live. That is what UNESCO is really about; it's all about bringing human beings together with one common goal, which is to move human kind forward.

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

So I didn't actually change my name the way some people did.

Clare Fischer was a major influence on my harmonic concept. He and Bill Evans, and Ravel and Gil Evans, finally. You know, that's where it really came from. Almost all of the harmony that I play can be traced to one of those four people and whoever their influences were.