I learned some classical music history, which I had done quite a bit at of Performing Arts. But I got some more with a great teacher named David Noon, who I've been in contact with quite a bit in recent years.

Remember, you have only one ride through life so give it all you got and enjoy the ride.

The first CD I had, that I think had had any redeeming qualities to it, I did when I was 25 with a relatively small label called Chiarascuro.

I left school December of 1988. I was 21 at the time. And I hadn't quite finished my degree because I had done eight semesters, not understanding that I was going to have to finish the degree without the TAPP and Pell grant money that I had been using towards paying for much of my college tuition. And I didn't have any money. So I said, "Alright." And circumstances there were such that I thought it was maybe time to move on anyway.

Hearing Sonny Rollins live... that was really amazing. There were so many things that really blew me away at that time [of schooling].

The goal is not to be better than anyone else but rather be better than you were yesterday.

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