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].

The Monk competition did open some doors. And I was thankful for that.

[Manhattan School Of Music] didn't' have a jazz undergraduate program at the time so I played a semester in the big band. There was a graduate program. But I wasn't really that involved in jazz yet.

Thoughts are magnetic. What we think about we attract.

Teaching has definitely become a big part of my life in the past ten plus years. As it often does for many dedicated players. Because you can have some great gigs.

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

Challenges ONLY make you STRONGER!!!