The reason that some singers go on to become great artists has very little to do with their voices, but rather with the fact that they have used their instruments as tools for detailed communication.

We are unique, each human voice, not because we are completely self-generated, but because of who we choose to assemble the countless factors that made us.

I'm lucky - I can do two things at once.

I've always been inspired by artists who have shown musical and intellectual curiosity and the courage to take risks.

I do everything in the third person. Performance is about being someone else.

I've lived in New York all my life, and we went to the Mormon Pageant each year in upstate New York. It still is a wonderful production. I remember going and seeing the performance and listening to the music. My father had Mormon Tabernacle Choir music, and we would listen to it and sing with it.

Certainly, jazz has become more of a niche, which is surprising, because it's our music. It's the national music of America.