I Came From An Era

I Had A 10-year Heroin Habit And Kicked That. Then I Became An Alcoholic. I Drank Two Fifth's A Day.

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.

Switch To Piano! No. Really, If You Like An Instrument That Sings, Play The Saxophone. At Its Best It's Like The Human Voice. Of Course, It Would Be Best If You Could Actually Sing With Your Own Voice. The Saxophone Is An Imperfect Instrument, Especially The Tenor And Soprano, As Far As Intonation Goes. Therefore, The Challenge Is To Sing On An Imperfect Instrument Or 'voice' That Is Outside Of Your Body. I Love That Challenge And Have For Over Forty-five Years. As Far As Playing Jazz, No Other Art Form, Other Than Conversation, Can Give The Satisfaction Of Spontaneous Interaction.

I Learn Something New Every Day - To Edit, To Take Out All The Extraneous Matter And Stress Form, Logic, And Content. I Try To Play Beautiful Music.

I've Always Regretted The Fact That I've Never Formally Studied And Learned The Mechanics Of Writing Music.