The Bandstand Is A Sacred Place.

My Daddy Expected That My Brothers And I And Our Generation Would Make The World A Better Place. He Had Lived In An America Of Continual Social Progress.

The Soul Gives Us Resilience - An Essential Quality Since We Constantly Have To Rebound From Hardship.

We All Teach From That Same Frame Of Reference. We're Like Neighborhood - The People Who Have Had The Opportunity Through This Music To Gain A Platform And Spread The Message Of This Music, Which Is Basically Love In A Form Of Communication That's Honest And Truthful.

This Is Our Bandstand. If You Don't Want To Play, Get Up Off The Instrument And Leave.

When I Came To New York, To Brooklyn, I Met Alvin Ailey And Stanley Crouch And August Wilson. They Were Always Putting Things In A Philosophical Context. All The Great Jazz Musicians Did, Too. There Was Always A Sub-context To What They Were Saying About Music Even Though They Would Be Very Down Home And Earthy. So I Started To Develop, In Addition To My Power And Ability To Simply Hear, A Way To Place Myself In A Time.