I can take any series of numbers and turn it into music, from Bach to bebop, Herbie Hancock to hip-hop.
The BBC were not playing the music that was happening on the street so we did an independent production because we knew we had an audience. Then we licensed the album to EMI.
Louis Armstrong is quite simply the most important person in American music. He is to 20th century music (I did not say jazz) what Einstein is to physics.
Taxi drivers used to ask me what kind of music I did, and I'd say, 'Well, it's kind of jazz, soul, classical' - but that makes no sense to anyone.
There are days I'm feeling lazy, and my mom will remind me, 'Beyonce also only has 24 hours during the day.' That always keeps me going.
My mom, you know, took off when I was about 6. What ended up happening is I ended up being with my grandparents.
I look at my clarinet sometimes and I think, I wonder what's going to come out of there tonight? You never know.
I'm not really one of those people who believes that if you're a musician you can just leave that behind and start getting into politics.
I'm not talking ideas, or even presentation. It's like in politics: You have to sell something to become an electric player - like your skin or your heart.
I want to stay away from politics, or else I'll probably end up putting my size fifteen foot into my mouth.
My politics were really radical when I was younger, and then I moderated like everyone else does when they start having kids.
I remember; I was 15 years old when Neil Armstrong put feet in the moon.
There are three orchestras in Munich, all world-quality, in a city of one million. Yet every hall is full.
My temples are only in India. When I am in India, I go to the religious ceremonies.
I'm hopeful that Israelis can go to Ramallah whenever they want and see how the people are living.
It's fun to work the robotic arm in part because it's really a team effort.
There is a quiet revolution going on in the study of the Bible. At its center is a growing awareness that the Bible is a work of literature and that the methods of literary scholarship are a necessary part of any complete study of the Bible.
We all have something redeemable in us, no matter how small." - Laura Armstrong, A Human Element
At the age of 16, something happened with my finger and the doctor told me, you never can be a organist or pianist, so think about what you do with music.
Truly, from a very early age, I started distancing myself from other kids, not out of willingness, but just out of the nature of my energy. I liked to do things solely, and I already had a taste of the quest for perfection, which is unusual in a litt...
I'd like to explode a few myths about what we call classical music. It's not high art for the titillation of a chosen few.
