I Always Like To Play Very Contemporary

In The Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra We Play Such A Diversity Of Music, With 10 Arrangers In The Band, We Don't Really Worry About Whether It's Contemporary Or Not.

I Always Like To Play Very Contemporary Concepts Of Swing Right Next To New Orleans Music Because It Highlights Continuum.

I Try To Find The Core Values That Are So Fundamental That They Transcend Ethnic Identity. That Doesn't Mean I Run From It. I Embrace African-american Culture And I Love It And Embrace It, But It Is A Part Of A Human Identity. So I'm Always Trying To Make A Larger Human Statement.

We Fight For Territory. We See It In Our Congress, We See It In Our Political Systems, We See It In Our Ways Of Life, How Separated We Are. When We Moved Out Of The Cities And We Lost All Of The Memory That Was In Cities, And We - One Of The Highest Achievements In Our Culture Is To Be Able To Segregate Yourself From Everyone Else, And The Deep Thing Is The Deepest Punishment Is Solitary Confinement.

It's Harder To Build Than Destroy. To Build Is To Engage And Change. In Jazz, We Call Progressing Harmonies Changes. Changes Are Like Obstacles On A Speed Course. They Demand Your Attention And Require You To Be Present. They Are Coming...they Are Here..... And Then They Are Gone. It's How Life Comes. Each Moment Is A Procession From The Future Into The Past And The Sweet Spot Is Always The Present. Live In That Sweet Spot. Be Present.