If you plan on continuing a tradition, it might be a good idea to find out just what tradition it is that you intend to continue.

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.

The more I can learn about music, the more I learn about other things.

As much as I have done collaborations over the years, I am actually kind of a reluctant partner.

I was deep in the zone of practicing almost constantly

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

I met Gary (Burton) at the Wichita Jazz Festival when I was 18 -- he was one of my favorite musicians and I got to play a few tunes with him there. Shortly after that, I joined his band, which was the equivalent of joining the Beatles for me! He was, and still is, one of the greatest musicians I have ever been lucky enough to be around.