My brother had a big band in high school; after that we continued to play together, eventually forming a group called the Jazz Brothers, that recorded for Riverside Records.

Music is meant to be a beautiful thing.

I write music people enjoy playing and listening to, and I have a group that loves playing the music.

I tend to not want to put labels or categories on the music, only because people come with preconceived ideas about what they're going to hear, or won't come for this reason.

I was blessed to work with The Jazz Messengers when the two piano players were Keith Jarrett and Chick Corea.

A studio recording is perfection, but emotion and passion come only when you turn on the machine and go for the groove. If you do that with no mistakes, it sounds beautiful.

Whether it's string writing or whatever, I try to write for what each instrumentalist can do best.

I am glad that I wrote something that brought joy to millions of people.

1972 was a year of many pleasant and rewarding experiences for me

Brazilian music has many of the ingredients that I strive for in my own music: Strong melodies and a disciplined but intense rhythmic concept, and interesting harmonies.

In 1994, I started touring again and I recorded two albums for Chesky Jazz.

There were valuable first editions of books in the enormous library, most of them had been scribbled in by some idiot named Will H.

The most valuable thing you own is your heart. Guard it well.

But as bad as I am, I'm proud of the fact that I'm worse than I seem

A thorough knowledge of the elements takes us more than half the road to mastership

People have paid for content. They always have.

And well historically it's never been a good thing to compare yourself to biblical characters.

From sports the greatest thing I've learned is discipline achieves goals.

When I feel good, the crowd is behind me, have a great spirit, I think I can be very tough to beat.

Jesus took His place in a manger so that we might have a home in Heaven.

The child is a realist in every domain of thought, and it is therefore natural that in the moral sphere he should lay more stress on the external, tangible element than on the hidden motive.