“When I was in high school I made the discovery that if I was playing in a jazz club, and there were black people in the club, if I could get the black people to like what I was doing, I was on the right track. So I began to play to those people because they knew what the authentic music was. I've always had that in the back of my head.” PeopleIfsMadePlaySchoolBlackAudienceHigh SchoolDiscoveryJazzTrackClubsIf I CouldBlack PeopleRight Track Author:Paul Smoker
“I go down to New York, do the project, and leave. I have no interest in participating in the rat race down there. Hip jazz fans know who I am. There's a generation of musicians in New York who know my records better than I do.” KnowsInterestRaceRecordsGenerationsFansNew YorkFameProjectsMusicianJazzWho I AmHipsRatsParticipatingRat Race Author:Paul Smoker
“I don't know if the music moves forward anymore. I haven't heard anything for years - except refinement - coming out of the jazz world.” IfsKnowsWorldYearsMovingHeardHavensJazzMoving ForwardComing OutRefinement Author:Paul Smoker
“I don't really have a career as a jazz musician. I don't really have a career as a classical musician. I don't really have a career as a college professor, and yet I did all those things and I did them well. I put out some records in the 1980's and 1990's that changed the way some trumpet players played.” WayWellsCareersRecordsPlayerChangedCollegeMusicianJazzProfessorsClassical MusicJazz MusicTrumpetsJazz MusicianClassical MusiciansCollege Professors Author:Paul Smoker