What was the first concert you ever saw?
I don't know if it was the first, but one concert that I remember ... was Ella Fitzgerald. At that time, I didn't really know who she was, but now she has become one of my many inspirations and influences.
What CDs are in your changer right now?
I listen to most of my music on iPod, and there are 295 albums in there. But they range from Brad Mehldau to John Coltrane to Dave Holland to Björk to Common and back to Keith Jarrett.
How many total albums do you own (CDs, vinyl, cassettes, 8-tracks)?
Probably in the neighborhood of 600 CDs and 100 tapes.
Do you download music, and if so, legally or illegally?
I do. I started a few years ago with some illegal downloads, but now I'm 100 percent legal. I can't in good conscience steal music and at the same time hope to ever make any money from selling records and/or songs. I don't think most people who illegally download music would walk into a record store and steal a CD, but that is essentially the same thing.
What was the first album you owned?
My dad had a lot of records in his collection that I would listen to, but probably the first one I owned was a compilation of recordings from Cannonball Adderley.
What song would you like to have played at your funeral?
The one I haven't written yet.
Musically speaking, what do you love that your friends don't know about? What's your favorite guilty pleasure?
I don't have any musical secrets, but some of the music would be a surprise for people that don't know me very well, like Björk, Radiohead, Common, Coldplay, Slum Village.
What band or artist changed your life, and how?
As a musician, every artist I've heard has changed my life in the sense that I'm influenced musically by everything I hear. But I would mention John Coltrane as being someone who influenced me in a deeper way, a spiritual way.
Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite album of all time?
John Coltrane, Live in Antibes, 1965.
