A medium like television can really really bring people together. I look forward to the day that people just come to hear music, just sincere music played by sincere musicians.
After a while I thought it didn't make any sense to use a pick. It's kind of like typing with one finger on each hand instead of using all your fingers.
Being as versatile as I am, I take offense to the notion that no serious musician would not be doing a late night talk show gig. One has to be open enough in other areas to be able to contribute to a show like this.
Dad made it to Gold Shield Detective, so he always busted Robin, my oldest brother, and me. Always got caught, whatever we were doing.
He has a bit of a car fixation, but I like that about him. Jay and I just get along quite naturally. That of course makes things a lot easier at the show. Jay's a cool guy.
I am blessed to have Mom and Dad.
I can pay my rent now. I guess I could always do that, but now I can get an apartment with heat.
I consider myself a serious musician. Doing a comedy show does not take away from that in any way.
I don't think I'd ever be an actor though, a whole other world that is.
I feel very honored to be playing with Bill Pierce. He's such a great musician.
I had the fortunate experience to play with people from different schools of music. Sam Rivers is from the fundamentalist school of music.
I just kind of dip and dab at the piano, and I don't play trumpet at all anymore. I do consider myself a pretty decent electric bass player.
I love both my parents dearly.
I played with a pick for a long time, but it didn't come out good.
I really live a simple life and don't need very much to feel good and happy. Don't get me wrong; I believe you should get what you earn. Sometimes you have to fight for it.
I really worked with icons in the music business, which really had a strong effect on me. It wasn't just pick-up gigs.
I think Wes Montgomery is the greatest jazz guitarist that ever lived.
I thought people cared about music in a deep way, so I was writing to that spirit in people and in myself. It was me, thinking I knew what was up. Youth, who else can change the world?
I used to have to get up at 4:00 am to get the Village Voice, find the place and get there before anyone else did so I'd have a better chance of getting an apartment with no heat. I was experiencing life in New York and being broke.
I want someone who is open-minded, dedicated to whatever she is doing and isn't afraid to say I love you. As for looks, she shouldn't have three heads. I want a regular human being.
I was playing violin for a long time, about 6 years. It takes a while. You need very patient people in your house when you have a violin.
I was really nervous, but that wore off quickly. I couldn't have had a better training ground for it. I got to know the key players at the show. Jay and I had a chance to hang out.
I went to a James Brown concert and for some reason, I said, I'm going to play the guitar and that's it. I was playing trumpet at the time.
I wish I could sing. I love singers, but I am way too shy. Scares the hell out of me.
I would like people to check out different kinds of music. As long as people are playing music with sincerity, they'll come away with something inspiring, whether it's country music, blues, jazz, classical or Irish folk music.
If you play jazz, then you play with your fingers. If you're playing rock, you use a pick. There's really no rhyme or reason to that other than that's just the way it has been.
In most places that are rich in guitar culture, everyone uses their fingers, like in Spain or Africa. In Japan there are string instruments played that way. It is not until you get in the States that you find people using picks.
In this business you have to keep an eye out. But my Spirit just needs a few simple things to be happy.
Inspiration is one thing and you can't control it, but hard work is what keeps the ship moving. Good luck means, work hard. Keep up the good work.
Is there time and energy enough for me to be a man, a man with dreams? Or do I have to go to court today and get home just in time for dinner and worried sleep before I have to get up and go to court again, again, again?
It doesn't matter whether the music is called simple music or complex music. When I do concerts now, we get people from 17 to 75.
It helped me not be at the wrong place at the wrong time.
It is hard for a black man to just be himself. We spend so much time in defense of something that is indefensible because there is nothing to defend.
It's fun to do something different and out of my personality. I don't take it too serious, which makes it more fun.
It's not easy finding someone I can relate to.
It's shameful what's happening in this country in terms of what we deny our children.
It's so important that every other industrialized country in the world, even some of the so-called Third-World countries maintain it in their school systems. At a very high level.
James Brown is the reason I play guitar.
Jay's been in every comedy viewing strip from here to, you name it.
Man it's incredible what they say, college students. I wish we did more of that segment. Says a lot about this country.
Mom has a Masters degree in Music Education, so the music thing is in my blood. I can remember her giving music lessons, hearing J.S. Bach inventions. She has directed Gospel choirs since she was 13.
My house is cool and comfortable, but it's not a mansion.
My love life doesn't stink; it's nonexistent.
My love life is like everyone else's - great, and then terrible.
Of course I have my favorite guests that come on every now and then.
People see my current success but don't realize I've worked hard to get where I am. I used to clean garbage off the Philadelphia docks and put a lot of time into developing my music.
Serious musicians are finding it harder and harder to have a voice in the world of music these days.
So much talent comes to the show. I get to watch Serena Williams walk across the stage. In my mind, it's all happening in slow motion.
Sometimes I feel like I'm not ambitious enough. There's so much out there. Add that to being a basically shy person, and sometimes I feel like there are a lot of things that I have no drive for.
Sometimes I wonder if I got lulled into not wanting things because I grew up black in this country.
The belief that we are what the media says we are, what people perceive we are, is soon to be what we think we are. We are treated based on this warped perception. It is hard to get away from it.
The first year I didn't play any solos. I got the feel of where everything was going, and it was just beautiful.
The simple things in life ground me and keep me focused so I'm able to do a good job with what is in front of me.
The things I really learned, I learned from watching my parents. They take care of business. Always have.
The worst part is doubt. When you doubt yourself, which we are taught to do, you get lost.
There have been a few that are consistently great as guests. Will Smith and Robin Williams are the best.
We all want the freak factor to be in the same range.
We do about eight concerts a year. We do some clubs when we have time, but it's really a matter of catching Friday night red-eye flights and returning on Sunday. It's not easy to keep that up.
We played in all the funk bands around the neighborhood. Proms, cabarets, dances. We played Chicago, Kool and the Gang, and Earth, Wind and Fire.
We worked so hard over two years in Europe consistently and had just an unbelievable experience.
We would work a lot on weekends, and I was making a lot of money for someone 13 or 14 years old.
When you work with Art Blakey, it will change the way you see everything. Working with Slide Hampton changes the way you see the detail in music, the harmony, voices, things like that.
Where is our time and energy going? How much is left after the daily grind in Minority Court?
Why must we defend being born in Africa? I don't see White people defending the genocide of the Native American Indian.
You can do anything you want in this world if you believe in it. Some things have to be believed to be seen.
You think I'm gay? Just 'cause a brother gave up cheesesteaks don't mean a brother is gay. I'm just a vegetarian, that's all.
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