Making music is like a form of religion for me, because it soothes your heart and increases the pleasure of your brain. Most of all, it's very enjoyable to express something that you can only hear and not see, which is not bad.

I don't try to please when I play. I try to cure.

I would like to play for audiences who are not using my music to stimulate their sex organs.

I think that those elements - light and sound - are beyond democratic. They're into the creative part of life.

The idea is more important than the style you're playing in.

It's just someone has labelled us as having a different label to do what you do. I find that labels are the worst thing in the world for artistic expression.

I had a really good time in New Orleans, although I had some very tragic times in Baton Rouge. Some guys beat me up and threw my horn away. 'Cause I had a beard, then, and long hair like the Beatles.