Music is a gift and a burden I've had since I can remember who I was.

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.

Jazz is a white term to define black people. My music is black classical music.

My love is like the wind and wild is the wind. Give me more than one caress, satisfy my hungriness. Let the wind blow through your heart for wild is the wind.

I believe in racial memory too. I'm sure I've got ancient African blood in me that has something to do with what I am.

Many times I feel different like a different person.

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