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

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

I learn something new every day.

I learn something new every day - to edit, to take out all the extraneous matter and stress form, logic, and content. I try to play beautiful music.

I practiced saxophone eight hours a day for the first two years I played.

It’s like a language. You learn the alphabet, which are the scales. You learn sentences, which are the chords. And then you talk extemporaneously with the horn. It’s a wonderful thing to speak extemporaneously, which is something I’ve never gotten the hang of. But musically I love to talk just off the top of my head. And that’s what jazz music is all about.

I came from an era when we didn't use electronic instruments. The bass wasn't even amplified. The sound was the sound you got.