Anyone who attempts to build great things will face challenges.

Phil [Wood] was known for having a little bit of a gruff manner, but he was all heart.

[Winning the Thelonious Monk International Saxophone Competition]definitely opened some doors.

When I got to Performing Arts, within the first week, a few days, Bill Charlap walked in and couldn't read music but he's playing all these solos from Keith Emerson of ELP, and Rick Wakeman from Yes. Real impressive rock piano and keyboard things. And we had really, truly amazing young 13-14 year old classical players in our year who had been practicing six, eight hours a day for eight years. So it was like "Whoa."

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.

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

I was studying with Joe Allard, which was great, as a saxophone student. Being able to study with Joe Allard was an incredible experience.