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

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

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

" From 1962 to 1965, the guitar became this icon of youth culture, thanks mostly to the Beatles. "

" 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. "

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

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

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

" The pianist Cecil Taylor is extremely melodic; the guitarist Derek Bailey is extremely melodic, and Ornette Coleman. "

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

" 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 was able to work with the best musicians in Kansas City starting when I was really young. "

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

" 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. "

" There are some musicians who are talented and see themselves as some kind of natural geniuses or something because of a certain amount of natural ability. But that is often rarely the case over the long term. "

" I used to love going and playing jam sessions, doing things spontaneously. I can't do that anymore. Everything you do is documented, nothing is casual anymore. "

" I hate the way chorus boxes sound. "

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

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

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

" No two notes are ever the same volume. With the guitar, you really have to model in your mind this wider thing; you're trying to create the illusion of a bigger dynamic range. "

" There are musicians who go through their lives sort of shedding their skins. For me, I've always felt backward-compatible to Version 1.0. "

" Jazz is not something that can be defined through blunt instruments. It is much more poetic than that. "

" I love playing and working on music. It is something that I feel really lucky to be able to spend my life doing. And I don't sleep much! "

" 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. "

" 'The Unity Band' project has been life-changing for me. I have led many groups of talented musicians, but this is unlike anything else. "

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

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

" 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. "