Sharing is a much better way to communicate than proving.

People will ask, 'Are you famous?' And I always answer, 'My mother thinks so.'

Passion is one great force that unleashes creativity, because if you're passionate about something, then you're more willing to take risks.

Jazz has been such a force in music, that any musician, including classical composers, have been influenced, and obviously performers, also.

Our cultural strength has always been derived from our diversity of understanding and experience.

What came up at age 49 is I realized that of all the things I'm interested in, the thing I'm most interested in is figuring out what makes people tick, why people think the way they do, why they act the way they do. And I realized that music is such a great way to investigate why people do what they do.

Music enhances the education of our children by helping them to make connections and broadening the depth with which they think and feel. If we are to hope for a society of culturally literate people, music must be a vital part of our children's education.