Anything that had to do with music is what I wanted to do.

I lived in Los Angeles for a long time, and in a lot of ways, I felt like I lived in my car.

I love Denver.

And I've found that, you know, the world of music is so vast and so broad, but at the same time, it's easy to find parts of yourself in places that you wouldn't even think that you were, you know?

Music is a conversation between the audience and me, and I love that about my profession.

I never looked or really believed that music should be categorized into particular genres.

I grew up with great mentors in my life who helped me become the singer I am today.

I never wanted to do anything else, really. I left home at an early age trying to find my voice, my niche in music.

Nina Simone is a musical genius and a rich and precious treasure who paid a heavy price for her artistic freedom.

When I was in junior high school, I knew I really wanted to sing.

The biggest thing is, when I was coming up, the thing that made you wonderful was your uniqueness. People celebrated that.

My mother would say, 'Stay ready so you don't have to get ready.' I spent a lot of my early years preparing for beautiful moments that have unfolded in my life so far.

I think that when I started singing, I didn't know what I wanted to do; I only knew what I didn't want to do.

I had aunts who played piano and sang and also were entertainers, so music was very much a part of my life.

My musicians know all of my music, and so that makes for something different.

I grew up listening to all kinds of music. When I came up, you would hear people like Marvin Gaye talking about Sarah Vaughan. You would go to a show and see Ella Fitzgerald performing the music of the Beatles.

I did a project called 'Sing The Truth,' which was a lot of fun. It started out being a celebration of the music of Nina Simone, and it was me and Lizz Wright and Angelique Kidjo.

It's funny: I look at songs, and I guess they each tell a story, and the different songs talk about different things. But they're unified by the rhythm underneath and the way that we decided to arrange and play them.

Jazz musicians have always taken the standards of their time and performed them with a jazz sensibility.

I've always respected and taken care of my instrument.

My musical selections are a reflection of how I grew up. Because, back then, you could see Miles Davis and Ravi Shankar on the same stage. And nobody thought anything of it, other than the fact that it was great music.

I always have a little bit of Brazil and New Orleans in my band.

The music we do is weaved together through stories and life experiences. When people come to hear us, I hope they are are uplifted and that we give them a lot to take home.

I love to create something new every night onstage; that makes a big difference.