Instead of being disappointed about where you are, be optimistic about where you are going.

When I heard Charlie Parker the first time on a record, it had seemed like an old, scratchy kind of record and I didn't get it.

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.

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].

You hear about the struggles with substances and all that, but [Phil Wood] was a really a great guy. This was a great man.

[My mother] told me a little bit about the scene out there and I think, as a small child, I just always felt a connection to that history because my mother had described it to me.

Remember, you have only one ride through life so give it all you got and enjoy the ride.