Challenges ONLY make you STRONGER!!!

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

I don't want my children to be what I want them to be. I want them to become everything God created them to be.

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

I had made a couple of records in Europe. One as a leader, and one as a sideman before that. It was what it was. I started to work with Maria Schneider around that period and some other people, I started to get called to sub at the Vanguard in my mid-20s.

I think that's important to remember - That we're blessed to even be able to attempt to do this [music].

[Phil wood] put on some [Igor] Stravinsky and say to follow the score, tell me to play me the opening to the Rite of Spring. Or, "I'm going to play you some 20th century obscure classical composer you don't know". Or, "Let's listen to some Charles Ives, let's sight read some Bartok violin duets", etc.