It's a shame that jazz is now being turned into dried fruit. It's becoming quantized, diced and defined. It's becoming an idiom. To me if it's anything, jazz is a verb ? it's more like a process than it is a thing.

Somehow trumpet is the reference point for me it was actually my first instrument.

Jazz demands that you bring to it things that are valuable to you, that are personal to you.

My older brother Mike is an excellent trumpet player. By the time he was 12, he was playing around Kansas City in classical situations. He was already an amazing talent.

I saw A Hard Day's Night 12 or 13 times.

...to me if it's anything, jazz is a verb-it's more like a process than it is a thing.

I try to be prepared for the moment, through understanding, and being warmed up, knowing all about chords and scales, so I don't even have to think and I can get right to what it is I want to say.