I'm improvising all the time. Everything I do is improvised. On the piano, at least.
And Lennie Tristano I like a lot, I still like him.
The thing of playin' and singin' never bothered me.
I'm playin' the music I like.
I start out with words, with the idea, the line. Then after I get a line or two, I try to find what melodic line those lines would be suited to. As soon as I find the form I can finish the song in my head.
I'm happy whenever anybody does my material. I don't care what they do with it. I do what I want to with other people's songs.