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" When I was coming up, I practiced all the time because I thought if I didn't I couldn't do my best. "

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" Most people define themselves by what they do - 'I'm a musician.' Then one day it occurred to me that I'm only a musician when I'm playing music - or writing music, or talking about music. I don't do that 24 hours a day. I'm also a father, a son, a husband, a citizen - I mean, when I go to vote, I'm not thinking of myself as 'a musician.' "

" I hope that I can make good music out of whatever genre I go into. Just to prove to myself that I can. "

" I'm always looking to create new avenues or new visions of music. "

" In World War II, jazz absolutely was the music of freedom, and then in the Cold War, behind the Iron Curtain, same thing. It was all underground, but they needed the food of freedom that jazz offered. "

" Since time is a continuum, the moment is always different, so the music is always different. "

" I like the idea of an eclectic approach, incorporating jazz with other forms and other genres of music. "

" My first Grammy wasn't even in a jazz category, but of course I was really excited. 'Rockit' was the beginning of kind of a new era for the whole hip-hop movement. "

" I got a chance to work with Miles Davis, and that changed everything for me, 'cause Miles really encouraged all his musicians to reach beyond what they know, go into unknown territory and explore. It's made a difference to me and the decisions that I've made over the years about how to approach a project in this music. "

" So much of what I create has been due to the influence of Miles Davis and Donald Byrd, and so many of those that have passed on. Their music, their legacy lives on with the rest of us because we are so highly influenced by their experience and what they have given us. "

" Being vulnerable is allowing yourself to trust. That's hard for a lot of people to do. They feel a lot more secure if they kind of put walls around themselves. Then they don't have to trust anybody but themselves. "

" You can practice to learn a technique, but I'm more interested in conceiving of something in the moment. "

" Miles' sessions were not typical of anybody else's sessions. They were totally unique. "

" I think there's a great beauty to having problems. That's one of the ways we learn. "

" Globalization means we have to re-examine some of our ideas, and look at ideas from other countries, from other cultures, and open ourselves to them. And that's not comfortable for the average person. "

" We are eternally linked not just to each other but our environment. "

" It's part of life to have obstacles. It's about overcoming obstacles; that's the key to happiness. "

" I'm not special, no more special than anybody else. "

" It's not easy to play in a framework that requires simplicity and to tastefully find ways to interject the kind of freedom that we have in playing jazz. "

" Take whatever happens and try to make it work. "

" I think people have learned that Herbie Hancock can be defined as someone that you won't be able to figure out what he's going to do next. The sky is the limit as far as I'm concerned. "

" I try stuff. I synthesize what's of value with some of the other things I have at my disposal. "

" Forget about trying to compete with someone else. Create your own pathway. Create your own new vision. "

" Sometimes you have to create a vision, a path for a vision. It may not be apparent, and you may have to forge it yourself. And that will be the way to move your life forward. "

" Clare Fischer was a major influence on my harmonic concept. He and Bill Evans, and Ravel and Gil Evans, finally. You know, that's where it really came from. Almost all of the harmony that I play can be traced to one of those four people and whoever their influences were. "

" It's not exclusive, but inclusive, which is the whole spirit of jazz. "

" One of the most important functions of jazz has been to encourage a hope for freedom, for people living in situations of intolerance or struggle. "

" I think risk-taking is a great adventure. And life should be full of adventures. "

" When you talk about 'doing the work', that's the work I'm interested in. What can I contribute as a human being? "

" Hip-hop is all over the planet. "

" The strongest thing that any human being has going is their own integrity and their own heart. As soon as you start veering away from that, the solidity that you need in order to be able to stand up for what you believe in and deliver what's really inside, it's just not going to be there. "