There are a lot of people that impacted me. I remember hearing Oscar Peterson live at the Blue Note, which was very expensive, but... $50 in the '80s... hard to come up with. But it was amazing.

There are a lot of different ways you can be a part of this music and love it and make a contribution that's personal to you.

I saw a nice interview with Dave Binney recently. He was saying, "Man it was never easy. It's not like 'Oh wow, the good old days.' What, when certain people couldn't vote?" There was more work for musicians in the '40s, '50s, '60s. But I don't think it was ever easy.

There is a very small chance that you might be really brilliant and really talented.

If I could have picked two guys on the planet, to have some exposure to at that age, those were the two right guys [Phil Woods and Charles McPherson].

Successful people do ordinary things with extraordinary consistency, commitment and focus.

Particularly, in my situation, I needed a way out of where I was. So music was that.