“I didn’t know Charlie Parker well, but I spent some time with him, and he was articulate and well-spoken with a lot of curiosity about music and the world. But the only way he seems to be depicted is as a junkie. And that’s not the full picture.”

Get up from the piano … Oscar is in the house. Who wants to be at the piano when Oscar is there? Find something else to do.

In all honesty, I think I just played what I felt was right for me. And I think I would have done the same thing, even if I’d been born later, when Charlie Parker was influencing everybody. The truth is, I never gave it much thought. I just played what I had to play.

At my age, I realize that my most precious possession is time, and I’ve got too much unfinished work to do to spend even a minute talking about myself.

He’s no Bill Clinton!

I think by shattering it we can create a new form, a new way to look at what is valuable – how we decide what is valuable.

It is very clear that one way to challenge insults is to submit to them.

I have to get back to the hotel. But I don’t know the way. I always rely on Shouji so I didn’t notice where we were going.

That’s the way women do. The frown. They want to give you the attitude to approach them back, by giving you a negative vibe.

Self-censorship is insulting to the self. Timidity is a hopeless way forward.

For my 20th birthday in March, I’ll buy myself a present for doing my best. A one way ticket to Tokyo. All I need is my guitar and a pack of cigarettes.

Today the search for a new global order is under way.

I think my stance and my way of life is my most important art.