You need to work as hard to be a great teammate as you do to be a great player

I was really falling in love with jazz and dedicating myself in that direction.

I saw that [music] reflected in my mother when we listened to these records [of Bob Gordon]. And I felt it too.

Aesthetically, I love the whole history of the music.

Pretty fortunate that with the exception of two months when I was 23, that I worked in a law office pushing paper around. I was always able to eke out a living somehow. So I'm blessed.

The goal in life is to live young, have fun, and arrive at your final destination as late as possible, with a smile on your face.

Hearing Phil [wood] a lot, those few years especially when I was going to hear music and Tom Harrell was in the band. Man that was incredible. Hearing Tom at that period, and hearing Phil in that period, and also [Charles] McPherson. Those three guys were very impactful. Very inspiring to me at the time.