Originally, I wanted to be a composer. I always tell people, 'I think of myself as a composer.

Jerry Garcia was one of the original American icons. He played naturally and beautifully.

All the things that human beings suffer from are how their environment treats them, and how the elements of their planet affects their mind and body--like radiation, cancer, and all.

Music has many uses and I think the most perfected use that music has is one of a healing quality.

Most of my relationships have been like that - with record companies. I've never had a legitimate business relationship with a company. I've always had a personal relationship with someone in the company.

I have often read critical pieces where the critic said that what the composer was trying to do didn't come off. I have wondered what the critic meant if he didn't know what the composer was trying to do.

Jazz is the only music in which the same note can be played night after night but differently each time.