I really believe in the power of music.

I believe in music because it has the power of change.

I believe in the old, because it shows us where we come from - where our souls have risen from. And I believe in the new, because it gives us the opportunity to create who we are becoming.

I'm no ethnomusicologist. There is a connection between the five-note scale used both in traditional Chinese music and the blues, but I don't really understand it. All I know is, whenever I play with Chinese musicians, we seem to belong to the same musical gene pool.

For most Americans, my Chinese music feels like a novelty, and it's not what it is for me.

I would say I've always lived creativity, but now I - I do it with an intention that's got a completely different power.