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

I dress up a certain way because I respect the music.

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.

Flexibility is an essential part of Jazz. It's what gives Jazz music the ability to combine with all other types of music and not lose its identity.

When I auditioned for my high school band the band director was excited because my father was known to be a great musician. When he heard me, he said 'Are you sure you're Ellis's son?'

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

I think that virtuosity is the first sign of morality in a musician. It means you're serious enough to practice.