I prefer music where melody, harmony and rhythm come together and no one element overshadows the other. Jazz at its best is a democracy of creativity.

I had to agonize over my selection since our music is so rich and all the above plus many others have contributed.

It's the hardest thing for a young player to develop. At the same time a young player also has to deliver their musicality to the audience. I'm still developing my own sound, because you can never know all the music.

Preparing to improvise is at a level commensurate with mastering the structure in a European classical piece. Another way to define improvisation is spontaneous melody. In order to improvise, a player first needs to have memorized and analyzed the harmonic structure of so many pieces.

Jazz isn't as profitable for labels like Hip hop or Rap. Jazz needs subsidies to continue, just like European classical works of Bach and Beethoven are subsidized.

You don't need sunglasses inside a building in the middle of the night.