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" Somehow, trumpet is the reference point for me - it was actually my first instrument. "

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" I'm always inspired when there's a robustness to the material in front of me. "

" I'm triggering acoustic instruments. I'm literally beating, smacking, hitting, blowing, doing physical things. It's an incredibly exciting way to make music. "

" If you come to my house, you won't see a wall of trophies or things like that. I'm sort of 'on to the next thing' all the time. "

" I have three young kids and a great family. I love hanging out with them more than anything. "

" If we are going to list guitar influences, the biggest one by far is Wes Montgomery. Also, Gary Burton was obviously huge for me in a number of ways. But beyond that, Clifford Brown, Miles Davis and Freddie Hubbard. "

" I think I represent a more left-wing view of what jazz is. "

" The guitar for me is a translation device. It's not a goal. And in some ways, jazz isn't a destination for me. For me, jazz is a vehicle that takes you to the true destination - a musical one that describes all kinds of stuff about the human condition and the way music works. "

" I don't worry too much about the fundamentalist principles that are in almost any discussion about jazz. "

" The first thing I learned was the theme from Peter Gunn. "

" Someone who knew me when I was 14 said I was the oldest 14-year-old on the planet. Now I'm a 14-year-old who is 60. "

" When talking about writing, I often use the analogy of archaeology. There are these great tunes all around. Your skill as a musician allows you to pick them out without breaking them. "

" One of the things jazz has always excelled at is translating the reality of the times through its musical prism. "

" The reality of music itself, which is the fabric of life for me, is where most of my attention is. "

" A lot of jazz artists think people should like what they're doing just because it's jazz. I don't buy that. "

" I'm always trying to find 'connections' between things. That art is the juxtaposition of a lot of things that seem unrelated but add up to something recognizable. "

" I realized that equipment really had little to do with why I sound like the way I sound. "

" I was deep in the zone of practicing almost constantly. "

" People sometimes say it takes a long time to become a jazz fan, but for me it took about five seconds. "

" I saw A Hard Day's Night 12 or 13 times. "

" It's more about conception and touch and spirit and soul than whether my hardware was in place. "

" I didn't want there to be a computer on stage. When I see people with computers on stage, I think, 'Are you sending e-mail?' That's so corny. "

" I think I have a basic sound aesthetic that is in most of what I do. "

" I hate the way chorus boxes sound. "

" For me, let's keep jazz as folk music. Let's not make jazz classical music. Let's keep it as street music, as people's everyday-life music. Let's see jazz musicians continue to use the materials, the tools, the spirit of the actual time that they're living in, as what they build their lives as musicians around. "

" I think jazz is actually quite unforgiving in its disdain for nostalgia. It demands creativity and change at its highest level. "

" My older brother Mike is an excellent trumpet player. By the time he was 12, he was playing around Kansas City in classical situations. He was already an amazing talent. "

" The beauty of jazz is that it's malleable. People are addressing it to suit their own personalities. "

" I don't know if I would qualify as mainstream. I think I have managed to function pretty successfully on the fringes of the music world and have been able to play exactly what I have wanted the way I have wanted. "

" I can't really say enough about Chris Potter. He is one of the greatest musicians I have ever known, and every second I have been on the band stand with him has been an absolute pleasure. "

" What I look for in musicians is a sense of infinity. "