I got very depressed. Hollywood can be a terrible place when youre depressed. The pits. I decided I had to change my life and do different things.
When I got started in New York, if you were different from Miles & Dizzy it was very difficult.
I quit drinking, so I can think clear. When you have chop trouble, drinking doesn't help the healing process.
Jazz isn't like pop, where you sell millions of records with a hit. Your spirit and soul aren't important in pop music. But jazz is like classical music. If people like you, they'll remember you and you'll last forever.
Don't make the mistakes I made of not taking care of myself. Please, keeps your chops cool and don't overblow. If you are going to play hard, be sure to warm up. I'd get carried away trying to stay right with the momentum [of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers]. I used to try and play like Coltrane and solo for 30 or 40 choruses. It all caught up with me.
I used to try to play like [Miles Davis], and Miles caught me copying him one night at Birdland. He said, 'Hey man, why don't you play some of your own stuff. ' So, I finally did, because I had copied all his solos.
When you are trying to do something when you are getting started and you are trying to make records for the first time, you want it to be the best.
Vision is a picture of a desired future; a picture of something that I don't possess right now, but it is something I want to see and experience, and something I want the people I am leading to experience.
With an orchestra you are building citizens, better citizens for the community.
Jacob Zuma built a 2 million rand swimming pool, but no one in the family knows how to swim
It's very important to surround yourself with people you can learn from.