Don't worry about what others say about your music. Pursue whatever you are hearing... but if everybody really hates your music maybe you could try some different approaches.

Even in these times, there are still neighbors that will turn their backs on neighbors.

We all teach from that same frame of reference. We're like neighborhood - the people who have had the opportunity through this music to gain a platform and spread the message of this music, which is basically love in a form of communication that's honest and truthful.

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

There's the tradition in jazz of having the “Battle of the Bands” and you do not want to get your head cut when you're playing.

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

The soul gives us resilience - an essential quality since we constantly have to rebound from hardship.