Let the critics criticize and let the doers do.

If you looked around, you'd be glad you couldn't see.

When did we begin to lose faith in our ability to effect change?

I play piano and drums very poorly and French horn and tuba all equally as bad.

I travel up and down the country and I've been all around the middle of America for many years. Middle America is not one big mass of people with a proverbial beer in its hand, keeping the country down. That is not my experience of it and I don't labor under that misconception. And we have a long tradition of coming together through music in our country.

The Duke and Swing represent affirmation in the face of adversity.

I remember when I wrote a piece, "Blood on the Fields," it was a while ago, it was about slavery and about two characters, and I studied so much of music, I would always go back to the original documents, and as much as I can get original chants and slave chants and different type of beats and rhythms and ring shout.