The Reason Why The Music

If You Are Serious About American Culture And You Are Serious About Afro-american Culture, You Are In A Lot Of Pain. You Are Not - You Are Not Smiling About It.

Flexibility Is An Essential Part Of Jazz. It's What Gives Jazz Music The Ability To Combine With All Other Types Of Music And Not Lose Its Identity.

There Is An Idea That A Mind Is Wasted On The Arts Unless It Makes You Good In Math Or Science. There Is Some Evidence That The Arts Might Help You In Math And Science.

I Travel Up And Down The Country And I've Been All Around The Middle Of America For Many Years. Middle America Is Not One Big Mass Of People With A Proverbial Beer In Its Hand, Keeping The Country Down. That Is Not My Experience Of It And I Don't Labor Under That Misconception. And We Have A Long Tradition Of Coming Together Through Music In Our Country.

As Long As There Is Democracy, There Will Be People Wanting To Play Jazz Because Nothing Else Will Ever So Perfectly Capture The Democratic Process In Sound. Jazz Means Working Things Out Musically With Other People. You Have To Listen To Other Musicians And Play With Them Even If You Don't Agree With What They're Playing. It Teaches You The Very Opposite Of Racism And Anti-semitism. It Teaches You That The World Is Big Enough To Accommodate Us All.