When Things Are Going Well, I Hate

I Started Growing Up In A Hurry And Taking A Lot Of The Philosophy I'd Heard From Church As A Kid A Lot More Seriously - Especially The Ten Commandments - And Wondering How 'thou Shalt Not Kill' Could Be So Absolutely Ignored. It Took Me Until I Was In My 40s To Write What I Was Thinking As A Young Soldier.

When I Was 20, Shostakovich Was My Favorite Composer. I Still Find His Fifth Symphony Wonderful, With Its Outstanding Themes And Rhythms. That's The Piece That Made Me Want To Be A Classical Composer.

I Played A Lot Of Sports And It's The Plays In Basketball That Weren't Worked Out That Are The Ones That Are Just Fantastic That You Remember. We Don't Know The Power That's Within Our Own Bodies.

The Source Of Inspiration Can Be Any Of The Things:deep Emotional Experiences - Say, Romantic Love Or Spiritual Contemplation.i Think Such Rare Moments Come Only When You Have Total Concentration. You Are Consumed In And By The Music. I Guess You Could Say That It Is Akin To Contemplation. In Order To Reach This Desirable State Of Mind You Have To Rise Above The Environment You're In At That Particular Time - A Bad Piano, Glaring Stage Lights, Or The Attitude Of The Audience. Sometimes The Inspiration Of The Other Musicians You're Playing With Helps You Reach This Stage.

The Worst Thing About The Life Of A Jazz Musician On The Road Is Getting To The Gig. Once You're There And Playing, It's Marvelous.