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" My foundation is jazz. I do all the things jazz musicians do. "

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" I lived in Los Angeles for a long time, and in a lot of ways, I felt like I lived in my car. "

" I did a project called 'Sing The Truth,' which was a lot of fun. It started out being a celebration of the music of Nina Simone, and it was me and Lizz Wright and Angelique Kidjo. "

" I have a sketch of an idea and I never really talk about: perhaps do another jazz record, but with other elements involved. "

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

" I had a few celebrity crushes when I was growing up, including Eddie Kendricks from the Temptations. And I loved Marvin Gaye - I thought he was everything and instantly fell for his voice. "

" The music we do is weaved together through stories and life experiences. When people come to hear us, I hope they are are uplifted and that we give them a lot to take home. "

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

" The biggest thing is to just keep your voice in shape so that when the emotion hits, it's there to have the colors to paint those pictures with the lyrics as well as the sound. "

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

" 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. "

" I didn't learn the word 'genre' until way, way late - I mean, like, in the '80s. "

" There is a certain kind of fire that happens when you fall in love with a musician. I guess you understand one another because you're connected by a creative desire. "

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

" 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. "

" My musical selections are a reflection of how I grew up. Because, back then, you could see Miles Davis and Ravi Shankar on the same stage. And nobody thought anything of it, other than the fact that it was great music. "

" My records are one thing. My live performances are something totally different because they're very improvised performances. "

" I've always respected and taken care of my instrument. "

" Nina Simone is a musical genius and a rich and precious treasure who paid a heavy price for her artistic freedom. "

" Singers like Beyonce and Kendrick Lamar are very conscious of what's going on around them, and they're waking up lot of young people with that knowledge. They bring their enlightenment to the world; the world that is buying their records. "

" My friend Harry Belafonte is an activist and musician, an extraordinary man who has dedicated his life to human rights. He taught me the power of words and that music can be used to heal and educate people. "

" One of the things that I love about Sarah Vaughan is that she was always very current. "

" I look back at Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan, and especially Betty Carter, whom I admire the most, and I say, OK, they set a standard of excellence. I listen to them not for what they are doing, but to study where they are coming from because, for me, jazz is life experience. "

" The way I look at it, people pay me to travel. Once we get to the stage, that part is easy. "

" I love to create something new every night onstage; that makes a big difference. "

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

" I think jazz is the foundation for a lot of great musicians, and then after that, you know, it's this broad expression of things that really have influenced and addressed your life. "

" 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'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. "