Some get it and some don't, but I think most do, ... But I can only play what I feel. When I plan a program, it's just a road map for a musical journey. What happens on that journey is what makes the music interesting.

Just because you're totally acoustic doesn't mean you have to play old music. We're straight-ahead but not dated, ... Besides, if the lights go out, you can still hear the band.

Every time I play a tune, it's different, ... It should be different because that's the essence of what jazz is. I've probably played that tune 200 times, and like everything, the piece evolves and changes and there's more depth to it.

At that point, my mom joined the Columbia record club, and we got our first record, 'Kind of Blue' by Miles Davis.

I worked in L.A. for 25 years, ... I played oboe, English horn, piccolo, flute, clarinet. But what happens when you do that is you spend your practice time on instruments you are weaker on to make them stronger. The instruments you are strong on become weaker. At some point, you end up in a mush of mediocrity. I was working for quantity, and I wanted to get back to my primary interest, which was to play jazz on the saxophone.

I'm not in the music business; I'm in music, ... What I love to do has evolved, technically and harmonically, but it's not as marketable. This record company isn't for trying to make commercial records for a particular market. It's an outlet to expose the music and energy I believe in – and for those who are looking for something more, it offers an option.