A good quartet is like a good conversation among friends interacting to each other's ideas..

I've always regretted the fact that I've never formally studied and learned the mechanics of writing music..

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 t….

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

You don't rehearse jazz to death to get the camera angles..

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'….

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

The saxophone is an imperfect instrument, especially the tenor and soprano, as far as intonation goes. The challenge is to sing on an imperfect instr….

If you like an instrument that sings, play the saxophone. At its best it's like the human voice..

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 almo….

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

Life is too full of distractions nowadays. When I was a kid we had a little Emerson radio and that was it. We were more dedicated. We didn't have a c….

I'm a recovered alcoholic. I don't do anything anymore, but those things, those things take away ... You're a different personality completely when y….

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 wit….

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

Other than conversation, no other art form can give the satisfaction of spontaneous interaction like Jazz..

I've done some dastardly things but what can I do except make amends and apologize?.

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

I learn something new every day..

When I got this saxophone, it became a religion. There wasn't TV, there wasn't much money, and there was just a real dedication.... I never thought o….

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