You can make a saxophone into an electric organ; you can do everything with it.

In fact, I heard Bird first, and had got well into listening to him. You know, it's the kind of accidental thing that awareness of a player is: what's available, what somebody happens to play for you.

Now, the instrumentation in the jazz band and the jazz dance band has gone through many evolutions. For instance, in the 'twenties the tradition was two or three saxophones.

People talk about innovations and evolutions and that kind of thing; I don't understand about that nonsense. It's like, all instruments are there to use all the time.

You start way down on a low B flat on the tuba and you have a chromatic scale; you can match the colours all the way up, till you get to the top of the trumpet.

Actually, it is a fact that I've been doing more writing than playing in recent years.

Because if you've got the wit, you can make anything into a melody, ultimately.

Eliminating the piano means that I've always worked closer with the bass than most players.

I like what I hear other guys doing, but the thing that really attracts me is melodic playing.

I'm fascinated with the electronic devices that we can mess around with.

I've always wanted a C trumpet on top, to have that same kind of facility without shouting.

I've appeared on some other people's albums.

If you've only got one horn playing, I still want the sense of ensemble.

In a way, I started out to be a baritone player.

It's true I've always been attracted to the jazz band in an orchestral way, rather than a band way.

Miles Davis is one who writes songs when he plays.

New York is still where I live most of the time.

Only the French, I guess, really use tenor and alto to any great extent in the orchestra.

People are approaching electronic levels in music; although not all of it happens to tickle my fancy.

So I played alto for quite a while until I saved up the money for the baritone.