As much as I love Thad Jones, he did everything right except leaving the band in a healthy way.
Freddie told me there were two trumpet players that scared him, Booker Little and Woody Shaw. Can you imagine scaring Freddie Hubbard?
When the band was playing, Thad was happy. He made the music. The music came out of him.
Writing for McCoy was great. You could be the saddest arranger in the world. . . you could write nothing, but when he plays it, it sounds great!
For the record, if anyone on Broadway or in LA says it’s going to be easy, you have to assume it’s going to be the hardest thing in the world!
Working with Michael Brecker was the deepest experience of my life.
My advice about playing opera. . . don’t drink too many liquids before you start.
You studied music, I studied the history of interesting releases for lead trumpet players.
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.
