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

Bernstein grew up in my building in New York. He's a very, very fine player. When he was a kid, he came by to find out what was going on in the world of jazz.

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

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.

I'd like to feel that whatever I play is a result of whatever I've heard.

I could stop and say, Well that was a D minor, G seven, but I really don't want to know that. I just want to know that there's a combination of notes that makes a sound.

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