What I try to do is produce an atmosphere where musicians want to invest in what they do and give to the recording. I hire those musicians who I know will play something creative and interesting.

Being stubborn has helped, being selfish is not a bad thing.

I recently formed a foundation to raise awareness for prostate cancer. I feel it's very necessary that men be more aware about prostate cancer and their health in general.

My father's father came from Russia; my mother came from Romania.

You don't have to live the blues to play the blues.

Being selfish to me means that you have to look out for yourself and you don't have to sacrifice.

I had sat in one day in Central Park with Bonnie and Delaney, and Duane was playing with them, so I asked if he wanted to work on an album. You never had to say to him how to play the guitar.

When you get cancer, it's like really time to look at what your life was and is, and I decided that everything I've done so far is not as important as what I'm going to do now.

My youngest son, who is now the drummer in my band, lives in Brooklyn. My oldest son is about to move out to California, and my daughters are both out of town.

My ego is controlled enough that I don't have to be the focus.

For me Brazilian music is the perfect mix of melody and rhythm. It just bubbles rhythmically. If I had to pick just one music style to play if would be Brazilian.

My key to dealing with stress is simple: just stay cool and stay focused.

[Students for a Democratic Society] it's a social democratic program.

If you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair, if you're going to San Francisco, you're gonna meet some gentle people there.

I definitely have my days where I look like I got dressed in the dark.

When I passed forty I dropped pretense, 'cause men like women who got some sense.

Already Roland feels his limbs starting to go numb. He swallows hard. "I hate this. I hate you. I hate all of you." "I understand.

Fear and I were old buddies, despite my best efforts to the contrary.

Hip-hop is an instant gratification, winners and losers circle, and often those who are losing give up after three or four, five years.

To some extent, the cult surrounding black-and-white photography is based on nostalgia.

Telling a story of illness, one pulls a thread through a narrow opening flanked on one side by shame and the other by trivia.