I happen to think that computers are the most important thing to happen to musicians since the invention of cat-gut which was a long time ago.

Every time you go in to make a record with the same group of musicians, the communication gets better and better. You've got that joint experience, and you learn with every single one that you have on top of that.

Conducting is about communication. You don't play any notes, but you communicate with the musicians.

It still amazes me how many musicians aren't really interested in engaging with their audience at all. Alfred Brendel, a pianist for whom I have the greatest respect, has described performance as a sacred communion between the artist and the composer. But what about the audience? Music is communication, a two-way street.

I don't think I set out to have a career in female groups, but it's just kind of happened, and by nature of having worked with my sister - growing up with a sister who also plays, and being in communication with other female musicians.

There is no roles. No one is keeping any roles. The drummer is also answering everybody and everything. So it is a constant conversation and communication between musicians on an extremely high level with extremely valuable material, motifs, and melodies.

I like to read, especially nonfiction. I love learning, so I study languages, cook, learn basic HTML, and enjoy other activities that stimulate communication and the dark recesses of my musician's brain.

I'd never intended to write a Christmas hit - I was a serious musician!

I didn't start my label out of a business perspective. I did it because I wanted to create a platform where new musicians can have the chance to get into a studio, work with each other, and get their music noticed by a large audience.

I'm a church musician. I play gospel music; that's what I do. I never had a chance to produce gospel music, and I did a full album with Lecrae that's the number one Christian album. It's super-big for me.

My father's nephew was the blues musician, Lowell Fulson. Every time he came around, he had a pretty car, a beautiful woman and a slick sharkskin suit. Believe it or not, that's how I decided I wanted to get into music.

I think musicians and artists are the most philanthropic people I know. Their charity record of the music business would hold up to the work of anybody.

Any saxophone player will have those influences come through in their music in a very different way. I can listen to the same 10 sax players as someone else for my entire life, and we'll both play completely differently. That's the beauty of being a musician.

The true beauty of music is that it connects people. It carries a message, and we, the musicians, are the messengers.

Most of my arguments with musicians through the years have had more to do with their attitude about music, or their attitude about their own lives, or their personal responsibility. Music has never really been the big centerpiece of the fight.

The world is full of musicians who can play great, and you wouldn't cross the road to see them. It's people who have this indefinable attitude that are the good ones.

Elvis Costello had a brand new bag. He was a musician, but he knew all about the attitude part of it.

The musician is perhaps the most modest of animals, but he is also the proudest. It is he who invented the sublime art of ruining poetry.

If you have good songs and a real desire to make music, the next thing to do, instead of approach record companies, is to get yourself a really good manager because then it allows you to focus on your profession of being a musician. Then they can focus on the darker art of the record label and the music industry.

The greatest thing about doing this movie was that Chris and I both were involved in folk music in the '60s. I had a group, but I don't think it was at the same level as Chris, because he's an amazing musician.

Some people are born with a brain that has this weird, magical mathematical thing that makes them an amazing jazz musician.

I have had some amazing experiences as a musician - even with my modest skills.

But in Delhi, people love artists. They love any musician, any actor; anybody from the art field who visits from the entertainment industry, gets an amazing response in Delhi.

Musicians like James Blake were a big influence on me. How he uses his vocals is amazing. And then Yeasayer and Animal Collective, who aren't pop bands exactly, but they do something that is so catchy and undeniable and so much fun.