The real art in music is composing and improvising. There’s nothing else. I wanted in my life to somehow get better in those fields.
If you look at someone standing in front of a big band, they probably wrote a check for the privilege.
There are times when you are a trombone player and there are other times when you are the trombonist.
House of Cards has been a dream job in terms of the amount of freedom I have. I have one of the longest creative leashes I’ve ever had.
After Woody’s band, I moved to Hawaii and that’s when I first met Jerry Hey. That’s when Jerry used to work for me . . . for a lot less money, I might add.
I’ve played my 46th score for John Williams as first trumpet. Most recent was the last Indiana Jones movie. The first was The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing in 1973 with Burt Reynolds.
I saw the Tijuana Brass TV specials and thought the trombone player was really cool. He was in the background and then he would jump out and play a solo. I thought that would fit my personality.
We have that saying that studio/orchestra work is 95 percent boredom and 5 percent sheer terror for brass players.
I gave my notice to Buddy and he said to me, ‘Kid . . . I’ll make sure you never work another day in your life.’ I made more money that first night in Vegas than I did for a week on Buddy’s band.
It was thanks to a brass player that I got the gig with Weather Report.
I did 15 albums with Henry Mancini and always had something beautiful to play. He was a monumental gift to the world.
