Occupation: Guitarist Birth: August 12, 1954
Its more about conception and touch and spirit and soul than whether my hardware was in place..
Sometimes I try to lose my identity, and I can't get rid of it!.
I was deep in the zone of practicing almost constantly.
Whatever my recorded output is, it's a reflection of a general love of music..
As much as I have done collaborations over the years, I am actually kind of a reluctant partner..
I think that the melodic piece of the puzzle in music is the most esoteric and difficult to quantify..
There has to be a real strong reason to do something with someone for me..
The Unity Band project has been life-changing for me. I have led many groups of talented musicians, but this is unlike anything else..
My older brother Mike is an excellent trumpet player. By the time he was 12, he was playing around Kansas City in classical situations. He was alread….
I think I have a basic sound aesthetic that is in most of what I do.
The best musicians are not the best players, they're the best listeners..
Players get to that intermediate level where they can already play pretty good, and that's kind of a dangerous period because they tend to start play….
One very fundamental thing has not changed and I realized that it will never change... is that I really need to go home and practice..
I have to admit that more and more lately, the whole idea of jazz as an idiom is one that I've completely rejected. I just don't see it as an idiomat….
Avant-garde, jazz, pop, classical, country and western, rock, free, straight-ahead, etc. are ultimately meaningless terms in the face of the music be….
I think I represent a more left-wing view of what jazz is.
I saw A Hard Day's Night 12 or 13 times..
Jazz is not something that can be defined through blunt instruments. It is much more poetic than that..
I was able to work with the best musicians in Kansas City starting when I was really young.
Music is what you notice when it's no longer in your presence..
Jazz music will continue to thrive, possibly in unexpected ways..