“Music was hard work, sure, but it was also supposed to be fun. I developed this conviction early on. It has stood me in good stead ever since.”
“For six weeks I was committed to playing nightly until one in the morning—and then attending classes by day. . . . The money was barely adequate to justify such a senseless pattern, but I didn’t care. I was playing jazz with legends, and enjoying another form of education.”
“I didn’t hang out much with Pee Wee [Charles Russell], Maxie [Max Kaminsky], or Miff [Irving Mole] after the job; they were usually too tired or inebriated to go anywhere. I was shocked when I realized that these world-renowned jazz legends were forced to sleep in grungy third-class hotels. When the gig was over, they faced the prospect of an empty club, empty streets, empty bottles, an empty room. This was a continuous pattern for living.”
“These men had given up most everything that life could offer in order to make their music.”