I don't know if I discovered I had any talent. It was dogged persistence. I had to have the music.

Well, when I'm writing the music, I just follow my fingers, and follow the thread that hopefully emerges in the music.

What I like best about music is when time goes away.

The real issue is not talent as an independent element, but talent in relationship to will, desire, and persistence. Talent without these things vanishes and even modest talent with those characteristics grows.

I have always had a certain aversion to heat. And for me, the name of the game on the stage is 'beat the heat.' It's always July under the lights.

A talent discovered is a talent that yields fruit