If You Want To Be Different, Do

I Try To Find The Core Values That Are So Fundamental That They Transcend Ethnic Identity. That Doesn't Mean I Run From It. I Embrace African-american Culture And I Love It And Embrace It, But It Is A Part Of A Human Identity. So I'm Always Trying To Make A Larger Human Statement.

When I Auditioned For My High School Band The Band Director Was Excited Because My Father Was Known To Be A Great Musician. When He Heard Me, He Said 'are You Sure You're Ellis's Son?'

We Looked Up To Our Father. He Still Is Much Greater Than Us.

I'm Not A Person Who Writes Really Abstract Things With Oblique References. I Look At Abstraction Like I Look At Condiments. Give Me Some Tabasco Sauce, Some Ketchup, Some Mayonnaise. I Love All Of That. Put It On A Trumpet. I've Just Got To Have The Ketchup And Tabasco Sauce. That's My Attitude About Musical Philosophy.

I Dress Up A Certain Way Because I Respect The Music.