I've always been extremely lucky in playing with great people who knew much more than I did. That's how I got from there to here.

We played for peanuts. But we did what we wanted to do, we heard what we wanted to hear, we performed what we wanted to perform, we learned what we wanted to learn.

I wanted to be a pianist but it just wasn’t my thing. I guess I wanted to stand up rather than sit down.

I’ve been working on the soprano saxophone for 40 years, and the possibilities are astounding. It’s up to you, the only limit is the imagination.

You must have the music to justify an instrument’s extensive use.

It’s very important to go through periods where you sound just rotten and you know it, and you have to persevere or give up.

The soprano has all those other instruments in it. It’s got the soprano song voice, flute, violin, clarinet, and tenor elements and can even approach the baritone in intensity.

Jazz is people’s music, a collectivity.

It starts with a single sound. If there’s something in that sound, then it’s worth continuing.

I’ve performed solo for 20 years now, but I don’t do much of it, because if you only play alone, you go crazy and out of tune and play foolish music.