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

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

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….

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….

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'….

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

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

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….

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 learn something new every day..

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

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

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

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

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

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

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….

People think that I play effortlessly. I remember doing a record date with Bill Evans and afterwards he said to me, you make it sound so easy but whe….

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….

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….

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