And My Identity...i Never Really Wondered About

Benny Goodman's Band Was Integrated Before Baseball. Even Before It Was Physically Integrated, Music Was Integrated. Everyone Listened To Armstrong And Ellington. The 20s Was Called The Jazz Age. It's Part Of Being American.

My Schedule Is Always Tight. But I Like To Have The Pressure Of Having To Finish Doing Something; It Gives Me An Added Edge.

I Always Like To Play Very Contemporary Concepts Of Swing Right Next To New Orleans Music Because It Highlights Continuum.

Many Heroic Things Happened During Slavery. And Remember That There Was A National Movement Away From It Even At The Time. The Era Of Reconstruction And Then The Subsequent Dismantling Of Reconstruction Sent Us In A Tailspin. Then We Had The Civil Rights Movement. Now We Have Our First Non-white President. We Have A Pattern Of Moving Apart And Then Coming Back Together Throughout The History Of This Country. Each Time, We Come Closer.

The Main Three Components Are The Blues, Improvisation - Which Is Some Kind Of Element That People Are Trying To Make It Up - And Swing, Which Means Even Though They're Making Up Music, They're Trying To Make It Up Together. It Feels Great, Like You're Having A Great Conversation With Somebody.