Musician Quotes

I've been working on the soprano saxophone for 40 years, and the possibilities are astounding. It's up to you, the only limit is the imagination.

I've always been extremely lucky in playing with great people who knew much more than I did. That's how I got from there to here.

I was spoiled by Monk's music because it was so good, so complete.

I wanted to be a pianist but it just wasn't my thing. I guess I wanted to stand up rather than sit down.

I still love the whole history of jazz. The old things sound better than ever.

I started in New Orleans music and played all through the history of jazz.

I heard Sidney Bechet play a Duke Ellington piece and fell in love with the soprano saxophone.

I fell in love with jazz when I was 12 years old from listening to Duke Ellington and hearing a lot of jazz in New York on the radio.

Circumstances can be very important. Find the right people to work with.

Before the work comes to you, you have to invent work.

Bamboo is not a weed, it's a flowering plant. Bamboo is a magnificent plant.

You can work on the saxophone alone, but ultimately you must perform with others.

The potential for the saxophone is unlimited.

Play difficult and interesting things. If you play boring things, you risk losing your appetite. Saxophone can be tedious with too much of the same.

When I came up, it was all about originality and collective research. There is an awful lot of imitation going on now.

Risk is at the heart of jazz. Every note we play is a risk.

Jazz is like wine. When it is new, it is only for the experts, but when it gets older, everybody wants it.

I think it is in collaboration that the nature of art is revealed.

We're planning on being married for a long, long time.

We live in a bizarre world - there are cameras in our house!

We have so much left to experience and learn about each other - it's almost like we've been remarried with the show being over. Now it's a whole new life for us.

We can't control it, and we've basically quit trying. People are going to talk, and people are going to lie.

To me, having kids is the ultimate job in life. I want to be most successful at being a good father.

This is a great time in our lives and careers.

There's a lot of reflection that goes on whenever I write a song - it's been a wild whirlwind last couple of years and there's a lot to talk about, and hopefully that's evident in the music.

She knows I'm her biggest fan, I cheer for her louder than anybody.

I tell her all the time I'd gladly retire and hang out with the kids and clean the house. I want to have a good life and great family, and from a professional standpoint I want to be successful, but it's not the most important thing at all.

I always feel stupid giving advice since I've been married, what, a year? I can say this: Be in it for the long haul and just know there are going to be rough patches. No two people are the same, there are going to be areas where you just don't click.

There's no bigger supporter in Jessica's life than me.

Marriage is a team effort. Both of us share that philosophy.