I'm a spa person. Massages keep me relaxed, so I always try to make time for them when I tour.

I love Amsterdam. The city is vibrant and alive. It's fresh and so open. It's definitely one of my favorite places.

Every ‘mistake’ is an opportunity in jazz.

I don't really see huge barriers between any styles of music. My definition of music is "organizing sound and silence into emotion," and that's a very broad definition.

The bandstand is an incredible space. It is really a sacred space. One of the things that is really sacred about it is that you have no opportunity to think about the future, or the past.

It's about being here in the moment, accepting one another and allowing creativity to flow.

Being at home with my family always inspires me. I find it hard to be inspired when I'm on the move. I'm not creative when I'm jet-lagged and sleeping in strange hotels.

I don't really see huge barriers between any styles of music.

If you listen to the way I speak, I have a lot of rhythm, use a lot of accents. When I'm playing my instrument, that concept comes through very clearly.

I listen to a lot of singers, because I find phrasing to be one of the most essential elements of playing.

What happens when an art form becomes ambiguous, I think, is that the standards are lowered. You can say anything is jazz. So I think it's important to reflect on what made jazz so special.

That was the only decision there was once upon a time: what to do with the night.

Some people should never be told truth. Their stomachs are not mature enough for that type of food

Men may live fools, but fools they cannot die.

I am satisfied to trifle away my time, rather than let it stick by me.

You can never betray the people who are dead.

The lower classes are such fools. They waste their money on the pools. I bet, of course, but that's misleading. One must encourage bloodstock breeding.

The people with the most fear have the greatest opportunity to be brave.

Satan (impatiently) to Newcomer: The trouble with you Chicago people is, that you think you are the best people down here; whereas you are merely the most numerous.

Can you imagine a writer in England influencing? Absolutely not. And in France? It used to be, but no more-absolutely not. France used to, at least, have writers as diplomats, but not any more.

When you want to believe in something, you also have to believe in everything that's necessary for believing in it.