“[Winning the Thelonious Monk International Saxophone Competition]definitely opened some doors.” Quote by Jon Gordon
“Earlier that year [1996], Ronnie Scott came to Visiones when I was playing with Maria and he hired me to come and play in his club in London, which I was gratified by. That allowed me to make some more connections.” YearsPlayConnectionsClubsLondon Author:Jon Gordon
“I had played some festivals with people and met and been around some good people, for sure. But what I say to my friends and students, anything like that with a grant or a competition, it involves a great deal of luck.” PeopleDealsStudentsMetsMy FriendsLuckCompetitionGrantsGood PeopleFestivals Author:Jon Gordon
“The best thing you can do is just go and have fun with [competition].” FunCan DoCompetitionHaving FunBest Things Author:Jon Gordon
“I was [ on Thelonious Monk International Saxophone Competition] with Ralph Bowen, and Joel Frahm, Jimmy Greene, John Ellis. You can't play the saxophone better than any of those guys play. So many of those things that those guys could do I wish I could do now, let alone then.” PlayGuyWishCompetitionInternationalMonkJimmySaxophone Author:Jon Gordon
“Many of the people I'm gratified to see have gotten acclaim like Mark Turner or Bill Charlap. Ed Simon or Maria Schneider or Jim McNeely or Scott Robinson. Ken Peplowski, who is a friend and somebody I admire a lot.” PeopleMarkBillsAdmireTurnerAcclaim Author:Jon Gordon
“A guy like Scott [Robinson] plays the whole history of music on every instrument you've ever heard of. He's just kind of an unparalleled genius.” KindPlayWholeGuyHeardGeniusInstrumentsHistory Of Music Author:Jon Gordon
“I'm very gratified that I had my little 15 minutes,or whatever [at the Thelonious Monk International Saxophone Competition]. It certainly didn't make me rich and famous. But it helped a little bit for a while.” LittlesBitsRichMinutesLittle BitCompetitionInternationalMonkSaxophone Author:Jon Gordon
“I was able to go over [Saxophone Competition] and work a little more in Europe. I'm thankful that those of kinds of things. Simultaneously, some nice things did come in. I got a nice festival that came in, in Virginia through that. There was a club that opened in DC in the famous Willard Hotel near the White House. And the club was called The Nest. I played there a few nights. Some musicians in Philly and D.C. kind of brought me down and got me on a couple things. So things opened up a little bit.” KindLittlesAbleNightHouseBitsWhiteNiceCoupleLittle BitMusicianEuropeDown AndCompetitionClubsHotelWhite HouseFestivalsNestsVirginiaNice ThingsSaxophoneSome NiceCouple Things Author:Jon Gordon