There's no hierarchy in suffering. I think songs that are transcendent are the ones where everyone can feel something from it, you know?

Your government has problems...my government has problems. I can't be a judge. All I can do is be an ambassador of love. I'm a musician, not a soldier, and if I'm invited to a place in order to play and bring love, I'll always accept the invitation.

I feel that musicians are in a fellowship, and that fellowship is a responsibility.

My father was a jazz tenor sax player. He played in a lot of big bands. So I had that sound around me all the time. The first record that really caught my ear was Clifford Brown's 'Brownie Eyes.' I grew up listening to John Coltrane and Illinois Jacquet. This is where I come from... I love improvisational music.

I just try to tell a story with a song, and be able to try to transmit the emotion to you. That's all I'm really trying to do.

I'm becoming more and more apolitical - I think the most revolutionary thing you can do is just live your life and have a good time. Before they scoop you up on the street or you die.

I think leaders are incapable of the strength that passive resistance entails.