Blues is like the roux in a gumbo. People ask me if jazz always has the blues in it. I say, if it sounds good it does.

People have taken time out of their day and spent their money to come sit down at a concert. And it's jazz music-it's not easy for them to get to it. I don't want them ever to feel that I'm taking their presence lightly.

When me and my brother would go to see our daddy playing, there'd be 30 people in the audience. I was only 14 or 15, but I realised something was wrong.

Don't settle for style. Succeed in substance.

What is deeper than respect and love? That’s what we felt: veneration.

Jazz music is the power of now. There is no script. It's conversation. The emotion is given to you by musicians as they make split-second decisions to fulfill what they feel the moment requires.

The bandstand is a sacred place.