This Music Heals People Because Music Is

The First Time I Ever Played The Trumpet In Public, I Played The Marine Hymn. I Sounded Terrible.

Jazz Is Not The Kind Of Music You Are Going To Learn To Play In Three Or Four Years Or That You Can Just Get Because You Have Some Talent For Music.

When I Came To New York, To Brooklyn, I Met Alvin Ailey And Stanley Crouch And August Wilson. They Were Always Putting Things In A Philosophical Context. All The Great Jazz Musicians Did, Too. There Was Always A Sub-context To What They Were Saying About Music Even Though They Would Be Very Down Home And Earthy. So I Started To Develop, In Addition To My Power And Ability To Simply Hear, A Way To Place Myself In A Time.

I Believed In Studying Just Because I Knew Education Was A Privilege. It Was The Discipline Of Study, To Get Into The Habit Of Doing Something That You Don't Want To Do.

When Those Who Are Educated Using Their Education To Exploit Those Who Aren't. That's What The Sub-prime Scandal Represents - People Of Education Using It At The Expense Of Others. At Jazz At Lincoln Center, We Have 22 Educational Programs. Not Just The Word But The Substance Of Education Is Guided By The Arts.