"It's true I've always been attracted to the jazz band in an orchestral way, rather than a band way."

"People talk about innovations and evolutions and that kind of thing; I don't understand about that nonsense. It's like, all instruments are there to use all the time."

"Then, of course, I played alto and tenor, wherever there were jobs."

"In fact, I heard Bird first, and had got well into listening to him. You know, it's the kind of accidental thing that awareness of a player is: what's available, what somebody happens to play for you."

"Actually, it is a fact that I've been doing more writing than playing in recent years."

"The first reason for starting to do the symphony concerts was to play this new piece of mine."

"The Russian composers, especially, tricked the symphony orchestra into the kind of dynamic, rhythmic thing."

"Miles Davis is one who writes songs when he plays."

"So I played alto for quite a while until I saved up the money for the baritone."

"If you've only got one horn playing, I still want the sense of ensemble."

"I've appeared on some other people's albums."

"When we've finished the current tour I'm going to go back to Italy and see if I can do some more writing."

"The recording industry has changed; they're enjoying such incredible success in the pop field."

"Now, the instrumentation in the jazz band and the jazz dance band has gone through many evolutions. For instance, in the 'twenties the tradition was two or three saxophones."

"This life of being a transient human being has gotten to a point when it's very hard to bear."

"When I began listening to saxophones, I was first attracted to Coleman Hawkins."

"Because if you've got the wit, you can make anything into a melody, ultimately."

"People are approaching electronic levels in music; although not all of it happens to tickle my fancy."

"New York is still where I live most of the time."