Whatever I do, I attempt to do it fully. I try, and don’t always succeed, to be thorough. There are musicians who do not know their worth, and if they knew it at one time, it has eluded them. I know my worth. You try not to dwell in the past.

Most of my recorded material has been in small group configurations. I have not released large orchestral works as recordings because it hasn’t been within the realm of possibility.

Whether I get adequate attention or not, people here do know the work I have been doing systematically and without compromise for over 40 years. I get tired of people making excuses for guys who don’t continue the art because they can’t make a living.

The magic of playing has to do with how much everyone wants it to succeed. If you have five players in a situation where the music is being improvised and one is determined it is not going to succeed, it won’t succeed even if one of the musicians takes control.

If I had money, I would like to get an old building, have music performances, do lithographs, have shows of paintings, and do those things that I’m interested in doing.

If you are you, 24 hours a day, then you do not have to remember who you are supposed to be in different situations – something that I imagine could be troublesome.

The idea of the nightclub as a supported and supportive venue for the creation of music is as outdated and outmoded as an idea as even thinking about it as a venue for the creation of the music. A nightclub is a place where you are supposed to have fun and drink and carry on.

I am not interested in petty gossip; I am not interested in who sells the most records and the politicizing of economics that makes that possible. I am not interested in a body politic of the largely uninformed who attempt to politically designate certain people as deserving of wider recognition.

If you think about it, $100,000 in terms of a recording is not a lot of money. For musicians who are cranking out a lot of this uninteresting commercial music, it is not unusual for that amount of money to be allocated for the lunch commemorating the signing of one of their recording contracts.

If musicians don't do any music, then there isn't any music. Musicians are very tricky and can be quite elusive.