I feel that I have an obligation to jazz and also to myself to play as good as I can play.

You had many jazz musicians who lived in the United States, who had a hard time being accepted over here and had to play in sort of these inferior type dives.

I want to be connecting with the subconscious, if I can call it that, because there are not to many words to describe the real deep inner part of a human beingI want to be at that place where everything is blotted out and where creativity happens, and to get there I practice, you know I'm a prolific practicer, I still practice every dayYou have to have the skills, then you want to not think when you're playing, that's when you let whatever deep level of creativity, spirituality, I mean, you know these words are so inadequate these days but you want to get to this place where they exist.

What I am more concerned about is whether our whole civilization will be around in the next 25 years.

Music represents nature. Nature represents life. Jazz represents nature. Jazz is life.

I think the problem starts with the general appreciation of the music in the larger society.

Even the most jingoistic person would have to admit that even American cultural music comes from Europe. That's what classical music is, real European music.