I have never felt in tune with the whole rock industry.

When I'm singing I try not be a singer with a capital S. I just try to get it out so I feel comfortable with it.

I can't imagine my life without the extraordinary bebop jazz revolution in New York in late '40s and '50s.

When there is a voice in a piece of music, we tend to focus on the voice. That is probably something from when we were babies and we depended on hearing our mother's voice.

Potentially, America is really the greatest, but it's not yet, I don't think. It's too much like an old-fashioned empire, waving the stick and dropping too many bombs on too many people.

I'm naturally quite conformist, really. If I go to a country and they say, "You've got to drive on the right," I'm not going to drive on the left to show that I'm different. I'm able to stick to the law.

I'm not a soldier for anything, either. I'm only a singer and I don't think it makes a difference what we sing.