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I came from a huge extended family of musicians.

My family was very musical. My brother is an opera singer; my parents both sang.

I also had a brother who was like me a musician and a composer. A man of great talent, far more gifted than I. He died very young... he killed himself in the prime of his life.

I grew up in a very musical family, my father was a musician and a big band leader and made records.

My father was a classical musician and my mother was a writer.

I played piano and was always in the choir. I tried to play flute because all the pretty girls played flute.

Nobody played instruments in my family. My father got that bug and said he wants his son to play saxophone.

My parents were opera singers and voice teachers, so growing up, I admired musicians and dancers.

Both my grandfathers and my mother's brother were musicians.

My family was musical on both sides. My father's family had a famous flautist and a classical pianist. My mother won a contest to be Shirley Temple's double - she was the diva of the family. At 8, I learned how to play guitar. I used to play songs from the '20s, '30s and '40s in the kitchen for my grandmother.