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" At a certain point, the graduate school thing didn't work out, and that meant I was liberated. "

Graduate School

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" I'd been studying philosophy at the University of Chicago. I hadn't been doing well, because I was sitting in with jazz musicians at night - it's hard to read Heidegger, but it's especially hard if you're half asleep. "

" You don't show respect to Frank Sinatra and his great example by trying to sound exactly like him. You show it by sounding exactly like you, and that's the way jazz has always progressed as an art form. "

" Each of the CDs prior to 'Flirting With Twilight' were more like roller-coaster rides. "

" The singer is always an ambassador of music. "

" I think my intention was there, and my love for the music was apparent. And there are very few singers who get up and desire to take the kinds of risks that jazz musicians routinely need to be taking. "

" You can never predict what the specific shape of your life is going to be, and you won't really know its general shape until, God willing, you're advanced in years and you have the time and opportunity to look back in a coherent way and see what your life was about. "

" I'm lucky that I enjoy touring as much as I do. I'm not going to make a living just making records. "

" I try to sleep as much as I can. I drink a lot of water. I practice consistently and just try to be ready for the gig. "

" It's true that I'm not known as a crooner or balladeer. I'm known for a more crusading or quixotic temperament. "

" You can start from any source material, and you can approach it with a jazz ear, and then it will become a jazz moment. "

" If you're going to be transparent, you're going to have to let the music come that wants to come. "

" You work very hard on the lyrics. Getting them to fit the contours of improvised melodies. "

" Listening to something without being present is different from being there in the flesh. "

" You don't just let a guy drop off the earth and not come together with everybody who knew him and loved him and respected him. You try to do it the right way. "

" It's a lovely thing to have people in any circumstance appreciate your work. "

" I think I make most of my decisions pretty organically. "

" Chicago has a burly, action-oriented but still self-assured and relaxed confidence to its stride. The city has a lot of wide-open space and all the possibilities that suggests. There's a lot of horizontal grandeur here. "

" My strength is to communicate with an audience and to know what jazz singing is capable of. "

" If I was going to sell out, I would do it for more than 10,000 records. "

" I remember seeing Tony Bennett on television. He was the only guy in the orchestra who was wearing a white tux, and I thought, 'That would be good. To be the only man on stage in a white jacket.' "

" You don't want to make records so you can win a Grammy. You make records because you want to be a musician. "

" I really thought I was gonna have a straight gig. But these jazz musicians put their arms around me time and again and said, 'Hey, young fella, you're one of us. Come with us.' That's a big deal when you're young and looking for your way in the world. "

" Of course we all know when music's too much in the head, and we define our greatest players by the way they are able to communicate directly from their emotional selves. "

" I don't want to take it easy. "

" I've got enough miles under my belt to know that whatever you envision in your mind, even if it comes true, will only keep a shape in the most general way. "

" Grammy nominations are certainly pleasant, but you can forget about them and lead a perfectly happy life - provided you have the approval of the musicians you work with. "

" I was very lucky that more experienced musicians allowed me to caterwaul until I figured out what it was really about. "

" While I revel in the memories of my own Grammy moment, I also know how it feels to walk away empty-handed. "

" I try to stick with things that I can sing with honesty. "

" There are incredible musicians around the world. "