Quotes

"I won't apologize because the instruments on this stage are real and the music is not synthetic." (At a 2000 concert.)

At age twelve I was singing harmonies on the street corner while walking to school in the morning. We were singing doo-wop before there was doo-wop. Singing was part of living and breathing.

It becomes something else when people join in and get involved in the music. Find something that they can sing with you. I love that kind of communication, and talking to people in the audience and feeling it together. You sing the song differently. That changes the musicians and how they play. I'm inspired by that. Something happens when that occurs.

[on an unusual recording experience with a 53 piece orchestra in the Nerherlands] As you can imagine, strings change everything. You have this typical symphony orchestra , and sitting inside there is a rhythm section composed of a jazz piano player, a jazz player, a jazzy guitar player and a drummer!

[on developing his unique vocal style] I found this guitar player, Julio Martinez, and he and I became a duo. Brazilian rhythms have a backbeat and you could turn R&B-ish in Brazilian music. They cross paths - one has the backbeat and the other has brilliant syncopation. That became my thumbprint and signature.

Music keeps you young, and because you want to do the music you stay young. They play into each other's hands. There's something in the creative process - making music or anything where there was nothing a moment ago, because you expressed yourself. It is a refreshing, invigorating experience I encourage everyone to have. It doesn't have to be something that we consider an art form. Rearrange your furniture, plant some seeds and watch your work become a flower. That's the creative experience.