My people have very subtle slang, inflections and ways of saying things that has little to do with words. If you're from the same place, you'll feel the jargon and know exactly what's happening. Same with any neighborhood cat. What he sees and hears and feels and lives makes him what he is. That's what blues is.

Since I was three I've been playing the piano. I've been onstage.

I feel more alive now than I ever have in my life. I have a chance to live, as I've dreamed.

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

Many times I feel different like a different person.

I try to swim every damn day I can, and I've learned to scuba dive and snorkel.

Jazz is not just music, it's a way of life, it's a way of being, a way of thinking. . . . the new inventive phrases we make up to describe things - all that to me is jazz just as much as the music we play.