Music is an attitude. It's a sensation to the average person, to the human being. And keep it simple, stupid. That's always been my theory.

My philosophy is the thicker the wood the thicker the sound, the bigger the string the bigger the sound. My smallest string is a 14 gauge.

My uncle gave me a trumpet, but I loved the Louis Armstrong sound and the Harry James sound and I played by ear and I played always soulful or very direct from the gut.

Buddy Rich was one of the most incredible technicians in the world, on this planet, but the only people he could really impress, who knew what he was doing was another musician or another drummer.

My aunt played the piano and I used to sit and listen to it.

I can play every instrument there is, every horn, I've played all the saxes and trumpets and everything and keyboards.

I always felt people should live with animals.