Benny Goodman was one of the big influences as a clarinet player. That's why I wanted the clarinet.

Names and theoretical things don't occur to me. If they do, I'm not doing my real playing mode.

I have been able to get a small audience. It's not the huge audience, but it's enough to make it possible to play. I appreciate that.

I just completed a tour in Europe. I played every night. This requires traveling some days for six hours in a van or a train or a car. After six weeks of that, I checked into the hotel and just fell apart.

Labels don't mean anything to me. I'm trying to play as passionately as I'm able to. If they want to call that cool, that's fine. Just spell the name right, is the formula.

Most jazz players work out their solos, at least to the extent that they have a very specific vocabulary.

Many people do think it's naive to improvise in front of paying customers. I'm not saying one way is better than another.