To most white people, jazz means black and jazz means dirt, and that's not what I play. I play black classical music.

Greed has driven the world crazy. And I think I'm lucky that I have a place over here that I can call home.

We have ordered things so long in a certain way, we are numb. Nobody dares question it. This is what is wrong, symbolically, with America.

I don't like to go to strange places.

I was reared in the church from the age of three. I've played piano since I was three. I performed at revivals and for my people around North Carolina for several years. People around town collected money to send me to school.

Music has been a burden and a joy for as long as I can remember.

Life is short. People are not easy to know. They're not easy to know, so if you don't tell them how you feel, you're not going to get anywhere, I feel.