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I've always been interested in any kind of great music, and African music is, I think, the source of it all.

Historically, black music has influenced other cultures and other genres and created other genres.

Ninety-nine percent of the music that was of any interest to me when I was growing up came out of the black community.

Quite frankly, I've always listened to the black side of the radio dial. Where I grew up, there was a lot of it and there was a lot of live music around.

Growing up, I was very much interested in jazz music.

People hear the soul, black influence in my voice. I grew up listening to CKLW and all the black stations like WLBS.

I base myself in African-derived music. Blues is one of the modern forms of African music.

I wanted to explore the connections between different kinds of music.

What I love about jazz is that it's full of legends, full of myths. It's an oral history because it started in New Orleans and Kansas City, under the radar.

If you're doing black music, you should have a core understanding of where that comes from, and the fundamentals - so you're not some bozo thinking you're doing something new.