[Phil Wood] knew about wine. He knew about food. He knew about art. He knew about classical music. He was interested in things.

If you think your best days are behind you, they are. If you think your best days are ahead of you, they are.

The best thing you can do is just go and have fun with [competition].

Love takes time. It's a process not a goal. Love is something that needs to be nurtured. But if there is one thing I urge you to start immediately it's focus on bringing out the best in each person on your team. When you love someone you want the best for him. You want him to shine. And the best way to do this is to help him discover the value inside him.

I just think that I associated music with something that was healing and transformative as a kid.

Instead of being disappointed about where you are, be optimistic about where you are going.

There are great jazz educators that I meet all the time. I met a guy named Paul Luchessi who has a high school jazz program in Fresno. And Bob Athayde who runs a junior high program in Lafayette, California. And man, we walked into these schools and Paul Luchessi said, "Jon is the composer of Paradox." A hundred or something kids started to applaud. "What? You guys know that? I'm so blown away.