"That is the process of writing: getting people to ask questions and to take risks and try things they don't know how to do and dare to have it fail."
"The rest of the week is going to be pretty jive. But right now I'm not worried about the rest of the week. I'm celebrating right now. That's the message we're trying to get out of here."
"Just serve the art, serve the music as best as you can, as honestly as you can, as diligently and thoughtfully and thoroughly as possible, and let the rest take care of itself."
"I don't think it's going to be better than John Coltrane, frankly. My generation, we're not going to quite get to what that is. So what we have to do is figure out things to add to it, to make something a little different."
"Liza used to tell me any time that you can work and perform on your birthday, it’s kind of the best thing to do because it is the birthday wish come true. "
"Once you get a feel for the audience after two or three songs, you kind of take them on this music journey and you're a deejay of your own music."
"There has been a framing of jazz in a way for sometime where like it's not for young people. It's not cool. I always want to push back on that one."
"Whether you're a musician or a writer everything comes down to story and narrative. And that's why I like to call myself a storyteller more than a singer or a musician."
"My answer to that is to keep writing music that I think is important. I think there's an element of people when they hear the truth, they respond to it"
"You can make music to placate, you can make music to monetize, or you can make music because you're curious about how this sounds or that works. When you do that there are people who are adventurous who will go with you on that adventure."