There were some things I was going and doing in Europe a little bit. Some festivals that brought me over. That was good. Some touring I did over there. But there was nothing major [from 22 to 29].

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

Connection to the music and the history was very powerful to me. I think that's what I feel the most blessed about.

All we can do is go about our work. But we can have a goal. We can have a dream.

[Larry Laurenzano] gave me a junior high school saxophone to take to high school, because I was always taking one of our school horns home to practice and I couldn't afford to buy one. He gave my friend, Tyrone, a tuba and he gave me a junior high saxophone for each of us to use at Performing Arts High School with. My audition piece was selections from Rocky. We were not sophisticated. But we had some spirit about it. We enjoyed it, and it was a way out.

We often have to lose what we thought we wanted to find what God wants for us

It's very unlikely you're a genius, but, if you're ready to work at it hard and you want to listen to music all the time and you want to learn about it and you want to be around the people who do it, you'll find your own way.