There are four qualities essential to a great jazzman. they are taste, courage, individuality, and irreverence.

You know, when I'm playing, I think of myself in front of the Wailing Wall with a saxophone in my hands, and I'm davening, I'm really telling it to the Wall.

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.

I cannot play a lie. I have to believe in what I play or it won't come out.

I never have any trouble playing anything I can think of. The trouble is in thinking of what to play.

When I'm alcohol-free now and even to see the world around me, I appreciate it, but I never truly enjoy too much of it maybe because I feel like I'm a working musician. There are some joyous moments, but I will not think a joyous moment.