Thoughts are magnetic. What we think about we attract.

It's a complicated story [hoe I got into music ]. I actually wrote a book about it, titled For Sue.

Sense of community was really fostered by Larry Laurenzano, who was a great educator.

Alan [Ferber] is a great trombonist and composer. I'm thankful that I got some associations like that through peers and former students. That's kind of what it is.

I think we had a Ben Webster/Gerry Mulligan record... that might have been it. We only had a few records in the house.

Optimism is a competitive advantage.

I remember [Joe] Lovano came around to me at that time [of Monk competition]. And I had taken some lessons with Joe and I had seen Joe on the scene. He had always been so great to me, such and inspiration and so kind. One lesson that I had with Joe was just amazing. I'm just such a fan and an admirer of his on every level. He was like, "Don't worry... you're just out here. You just do what you're doing. Don't worry if it doesn't make you a household name or anything."