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When you limit the word 'jazz' to one period of history, for the people who love that period, then maybe it can be dead because nobody plays like that anymore. But jazz is progressive music; it always has to progress, and musicians always have to find new landscapes and new ways to speak out, so of course it's always changing.

Jazz, of course, is our heritage. Jazz is a culture, it's not a fad. It's up to us to see to it that it stays alive.

Jazz to me is a living music. It's a music that since its beginning has expressed the feelings, the dreams, hopes, of the people.

Jazz is about being in the moment.

Jazz is like wine. When it is new, it is only for the experts, but when it gets older, everybody wants it.

Jazz is an art that takes decades to appreciate and understand.

There is a modern take on certain things you can do that, to me, is still jazz.

Jazz needs the help. It's the more sophisticated music. All the other music is on the TV, but jazz isn't.

Certainly, jazz has become more of a niche, which is surprising, because it's our music. It's the national music of America.

Jazz is like a big secret club. The mainstream media doesn't pay any attention to it; it's, like, 1 percent of the music market - no one cares. Why? Because the majority of jazz is old.