The clarinet is not so dominant in Israeli music as it is in klezmer. I heard klezmer when I was growing up, but for some reason I avoided it. I listened to Louis Armstrong instead. But the sense of melody is the connection between jazz and klezmer.

I prefer to solve conflict with kindness. That's my first approach. If that doesn't work, there's always the alternative. I'm from Israel. I can tell a person what I think if I have to!

My parents never said to me, 'Why don't you go and get a real profession?' And that really helped.

There are a lot of Israeli musicians in New York because you want to grow and go onstage, and eventually you have to get out of Israel to do that because there aren't enough places to play.