Only a few act - the rest of us reap the benefits of their risk.

We always hear about the rights of democracy, but the major responsibility of it is participation.

When I came to New York, to Brooklyn, I met Alvin Ailey and Stanley Crouch and August Wilson. They were always putting things in a philosophical context. All the great jazz musicians did, too. There was always a sub-context to what they were saying about music even though they would be very down home and earthy. So I started to develop, in addition to my power and ability to simply hear, a way to place myself in a time.

Because the blues is the basis of most American music in the 20th century. It's a 12-bar form that's played by jazz, bluegrass and country musicians. It has a rhythmic vocabulary that's been used by rock n' roll. It's related to spirituals, and even the American fiddle tradition.

Maybe the preoccupation with technological progress has overshadowed our concern with human progress.

I believe in professionalism, but playing is not like a job. You have to be grateful to have the opportunity to play.

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