It's incredible how one song or even one little phrase or just a few notes, if you really concentrate on it, can be a kaleidoscope of possibility.

There's so much music out there & so many possibilities. I like anyone who plays any instrument.

Music doesn't hurt anybody, that's what's amazing. Everything is in there, every kind of human emotion, from the darkest to the lightest. And it has power. Unbelievable power.

Every time I play with someone, not just a new person, but someone I've been with all along, that's where I really learn.

To me, jazz is a place where anything is possible.

There's always this sound out there that's just a little beyond my reach & that just sort of keeps me going.

I love listening to other musicians and seeing what they do to gain their distinctive respective sounds and edge.

I hate labels; the problem is that if you say you're one thing, it's hard for people to imagine you as something else. Music is way more complicated than that.

First I was a European-style player, then I was a downtown 'noise guy,' and now some people call me an Americana guy.

I spend a lot of time copying saxophone players and trumpet players.

I can write the stuff and play it myself and have something in my head, but the best feeling is when somebody else plays it and they're hearing something other than what I'm hearing.

Writing starts with living.—Rumors of Water: Thoughts on Creativity & Writing

I am determined to write daily.

I firmly believe that the mission of religion in the 21st century must be to contribute concretely to the peaceful coexistence of humankind.

To indoctrinate boys into the rules of patriarchy, we force them to feel pain and to deny their feelings.

The food is excellent. The beer is cold. The sun nearly always shines. There is coffee on every corner. Life doesn’t get much better than this.

I feel very at home in an empty church. I feel the most protected. It's very mystical.

The stronger the facts are there, you should achieve justice. You don't need to make sensationalized statements.

I am not much of a researcher as a novelist; I write mainly from experience.

The theater is reaching as many different demographics as it can now.

One of the privileges of doing television is the ability to evaluate my own performance and try to improve upon it.