So much of Jazz doesn't have an audience other than music students or musicians.

If it's not going to sound like Terrapin Station, what's the point of playing Terrapin Station?

The way to learn the language is to rip off other players. As Benny Golson told me, "We all start off sounding like other cats. And gradually, a lick here or there,we start to sound like ourselves. But it takes a long time to do so..." That'swhat he told me, and it worked for me.

I'm not going to play funk licks on a jazz album. That makes no sense.

I gave up my base in popular culture when I left the Tonight Show.

If you listen to a lot of the songs that are popular now, there's very little melody in there. People love the beat. But to musicians, it's melody, because we understand how elusive it is and how hard it is to hold.

If I were like a lot of other people, then it wouldn't be fun; but since I'm like me, it's okay.