I compulsively reach for perfection in music, often at the expense of everything else in my life.

The saxophone is actually a translation of the human voice, in my conception. All you can do is play melody. No matter how complicated it gets, it's still a melody.

The value of jazz still has to be clarified. People involve themselves with its superficialities without digging for its soul.

We recorded to document ourselves, not to sell a lot of records.

People think that I play effortlessly. I remember doing a record date with Bill Evans and afterwards he said to me, you make it sound so easy but when I get right up next to you you're working hard and making it sound easy!

My life is music, and in some vague, mysterious and subconscious way, I have always been driven by a taut inner spring which has propelled me to almost compulsively reach for perfection in music, often - in fact, mostly - at the expense of everything else in my life.

You can read all the textbooks and listen to all the records, but you have to play with musicians that are better than you.