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" I think that when I started singing, I didn't know what I wanted to do; I only knew what I didn't want to do. "

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" I grew up with great mentors in my life who helped me become the singer I am today. "

" I love being with artists because I'm always open to getting into something. "

" My junior high school teacher, Bennie Williams, was really more than a music teacher. She taught us poetry. She helped us put on school shows. She did all these kinds of things to help us stand in each other's shoes, and it was a really powerful time. That's when I discovered that I could sing. "

" I listen to music all the time, and a lot of the things I cover are the standards of my time, and they work for me. "

" Early on, I started with classical voice and had that wonderful foundation. For where I wanted to go at that time, there were no teachers to teach it, so I came up with all kinds of different ways to develop the sound of my voice. "

" In high school, we had a really great jazz program that I finally was able to be a part of. They only wanted instrumentalists; they didn't want any singers. But I made my way in, and I remember the conductor of the band wrote a lot of arrangements and asked me what I wanted to sing. "

" Herb Wong was an incredible man. We met when I was performing with Clark Terry at the Wichita Jazz Festival around 1974. "

" I never wanted to do anything else, really. I left home at an early age trying to find my voice, my niche in music. "

" When I worked with my uncle, I loved the fact that jazz music demanded that you use your own unique approach. "

" I'm always inspired to push forward. "

" The Confederate flag is a divisive presence - it's the opposite of everything my artistry means and represents. "

" I never called myself a jazz singer. I just call myself a vocalist because I love to sing all kinds of things. "

" Jazz is such a living art form. It happens right in the moment. You weave a story by changing certain elements and components. "

" Go out into the world with your passion and love for what you do, and just never give up. "

" My mother would say, 'Stay ready so you don't have to get ready.' I spent a lot of my early years preparing for beautiful moments that have unfolded in my life so far. "

" I had really great art classes. Really great art teachers. Arts played a very important role in having a place to express yourself uniquely. "

" I think an artist who has it in their heart to do or say something, they'll say it. It's not something that's mandatory, but it will come out. "

" Art is a direct reflection of the life you live. What you experience comes out in your work. "

" I always say that improvisation is the utterance of one's spirit, and it dictates your life experience, and that's how you find your concepts and your way for painting your musical picture. "

" I come from a family of storytellers. My grandmother was great at telling stories, and my mother was an amazing storyteller. "

" I always have a little bit of Brazil and New Orleans in my band. "

" I've always had really wonderful people around me. But early on, I remember I would walk into a session or go do something with some musicians, and they viewed me, basically, as their chick singer. "

" I loved singing something like 'I've Got My Eye On You' when it's really about the FBI. It turns a love song into something else! "

" Oh my gosh, I love Jon Hendricks. "

" I knew what the story behind 'Dreams' was. It was about Stevie Knicks' relationship. But when I sing it, it's about sharing some sage advice with somebody. "

" The biggest thing is, when I was coming up, the thing that made you wonderful was your uniqueness. People celebrated that. "

" I feel proud of my journey. I wouldn't change it. "

" My mother was actually born in Toledo and raised in Detroit. "

" It's funny: I look at songs, and I guess they each tell a story, and the different songs talk about different things. But they're unified by the rhythm underneath and the way that we decided to arrange and play them. "

" When I found out how music made me feel and how my singing made other people feel, that's when I decided this is what I wanted to do. "