When I joined the band I didn't know any of the tunes, and when I left the band I didn't know any of the tunes!

Once we're inside a tune, we can do anything with it.

I'm not talking ideas, or even presentation. It's like in politics: You have to sell something to become an electric player - like your skin or your heart.

I've never heard anything Wynton [Marsalis] played sound like it meant anything at all. Wynton has no voice and no presence. His music sounds like a talented high-school trumpet player to me... he's jazzy the same way someone who drives a BMW is sporty.

The way I think about the practicing, it is my undercover work.

Ideally, I'd like to be the eternal novice, for then only the surprises would be endless.

When you're up against an electric band like that, it's like you're on two separate planets.