The heart of a music is its rhythm. The heart of rhythm section music is the rhythm.

Even if nobody's singing, just when you talk, you're singing. I'll meet somebody and say, "Oh, I'm tone-deaf." I say, "You're not tone-deaf, because if you were tone-deaf you would speak like that. But you're 'Oh, I'm tone-deaf.' You already sang a song to me."

Jazz music is the power of now.

The reason why the music [jazz] is important is because it's an art form-an ancient art form-that takes in the mythology of our people.

Everything about the swing is about some guideline and some grid and the elegant way that you negotiate your way through that grid.

Trumpet players see each other, and it's like we're getting ready to square off or get into a fight or something.

This music heals people because music is vibration, and the proper vibration heals.