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

I don't like to go to strange places. I was in Italy for about five hours on my way to Africa.

I applied for a scholarship to Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. I knew I was good enough, but they turned me down. And it took me about six months to realize it was because I was black. I never really got over that jolt of racism at the time.

I think if I were over there in America, protest music would be more important. But I'm not going.

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

I would like you to know, I am a doctor of music.

You can't be different if you look at it. Being gifted is different. I had that in my piano playing. I'm very thankful for that. I'm very aware of that. The style and what I fed is just me. I never worked at it. It just happened.