And so it was interesting for me to find myself very enamored of a Republican president, but Ronald Reagan was someone I thought captured the spirit of America.

As a musician you have to keep one foot back in the past and have one foot forward into the future.

I don't care much about music. What I like is sounds.

I think one of the problems the Democrats have today is that they are an elitist party.

Men have died for this music. You can't get more serious than that.

It's taken me all my life to learn what not to play.

One of the reasons we're here is to be a part of this process of exchange.

Texas is now a cornerstone of the electoral college for Republicans.

You can't steal a gift. Bird [Charlie Parker] gave the world his music, and if you can hear it you can have it.

I try to play the bare essence, to let everything be just what it's supposed to be.

The sign of a mature musician is knowing what not to play.

The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.

I never encountered any crisis in life, because I solved my problems before they turned into crisis.

He only wanted to use me for something. Everyone wanted to use you for some purpose.

History thus becomes largely a study of character. Insight into temperament is hardly less important than the probing of "original materials."

Believe in the power of songs.

I enjoy going to campuses and reading and doing a class or teaching and then running away and not having to grade papers.

Encourage & support your kids because "Children are apt to live up to what you believe of them.

Attaining even mediocrity is often a struggle.

I just think this is people who are chronically looking for ways to be upset about things.

I learn more from creative people in other disciplines than I do even from other architects because I think they have a way of looking at the world that is really important.