“I can't read music. Instead, I'd do stuff inside the piano, do harmonics and all kinds of crazy things. They used to put me in these annual piano contests down at Long Beach City College, and two years in a row, I won first prize - out of like 5,000 kids! The judges were like, 'Very interesting inte”

“I must have made a good impression because a club official to us into his office and asked me if I would sign on for a year with a view to becoming a professional.”