I went in [Sweet Basil band] and played with them, maybe half the gig for almost eight years or more.

Larry [ Laurenzano] said to me one day near the end of junior high, "Jon, are you Jewish?" I said, "No." And he said, "Well neither am I. I'm not sure of Caesar DiMauro, but he teaches at the JCC and I got you a scholarship there."

Aesthetically, I love the whole history of the music.

Things dribbled in in dribs and drabs through my 20s. But it was a struggle.

I remember Art Blakey saying to me, "Just remember, we're blessed to do what we do."

I just think that I associated music with something that was healing and transformative as a kid.

[Manhattan School Of Music] were kind of just getting the jazz program up and going when I first started there. I was 17 in September of 1984 when I started there.