[on changing from guitar to saxophone after hearing John Coltrane] It just blew my mind. What he was saying musically spoke to me: the high level of sound through his instrument and the complexity of it. On an emotional level, there was such a level of urgency in his music. It pulled me right in.

[on his early relationships with established performers] My dad always told me to bring my horn along and ask if I could play with them. I got to sit in with some incredible musicians - Art Blakey, Elvin Jones , and Freddie Hubbard. Those moments I learned a lot. They passed on something through the music, a spiritual connection between life and music. I'm so happy that I got to receive it, even for a short time.

The best advice I ever got was from a bass player who played with Pharoah Sanders. He told me to practice eight hours a day. It shaped my thinking, regimented my musical schedule, and made me think about notes and math as it relates to music. It pushed me to think about interpolations, and then transfer that to other parts of my life. It made me think about music in a deep, deep way that will forever influence me.

I enjoy teaching, but I also enjoy learning. I enjoy the process of learning - walking into new situations that I didn't understand before, and walking away feeling, 'Wow, I was humbled by something: now I can think about life in this other way'. I'd like to start a music education non-profit relating to discipline and how to approach music from a philosophical perspective, as well as a musical perspective. Music is just one part of a larger perspective of life, and I'd like to make that a little more clear.