What I came back to is that jazz is a music to be played and not to be intellectualized on.

People talk about innovations and evolutions and that kind of thing; I don't understand about that nonsense. It's like, all instruments are there to use all the time

When [Billy] Strayhorn came on the scene, he just blew us away.

Eliminating the piano means that I've always worked closer with the bass than most players.

So I played alto for quite a while until I saved up the money for the baritone

The other saxophones, except as solo instruments, really don't have much point in the orchestra

This life of being a transient human being has gotten to a point when it's very hard to bear