I was really falling in love with jazz and dedicating myself in that direction. — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
You do [jazz] because you love it and hope many some others may as well. You do this because you need it. — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
The first jazz cruise that I was on was '91. I played with Maria Schneider and John Fedchock's band. Got to meet… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
I would sit in at a jazz brunch [at sweet Basil] with Eddie Chamblee, who was a great tenor player. Really a… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
Justin Di Cioccio led a jazz program at Music and Art, but there was no jazz in Performing Arts. After they joined,… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
[Manhattan School Of Music] didn't' have a jazz undergraduate program at the time so I played a semester in the big band.… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
When I was 13, 14, 15, I had played in a couple of jazz ensembles. I didn't know anything about harmony, about… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
Now we also need people who just love to listen to the music. And we need people that want to work to… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
[Manhattan School Of Music] were kind of just getting the jazz program up and going when I first started there. I was… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
[Eddie Locke] had a huge impact in my life. He was a great jazz drummer. He was mentored by Papa Joe Jones… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
We spent all day together [with Phil Wood] at that one particular lesson, which was maybe the third or fourth lesson, in… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
[Charlie Parker] was kind of a sponge and intrigued by it all.That's similar to what Phil [Woods] told me about Bird, too.… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
There are great jazz educators that I meet all the time. I met a guy named Paul Luchessi who has a high… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
Barry Harris had a club called Jazz Cultural Theater and there were sessions there on a regular basis. I remember being there… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
Justin [Di Cioccio] was [at Laguardia School of Arts]. He later took over at Manhattan. But I knew Justin through the McDonald's… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
By the latter part of high school, by the middle of junior year in high school, Jay Rodriguez played me some Irakere… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
I did, I was in Europe a lot. I would say, mid 20s to late 30s. Less so in the last ten… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
Joe Henderson, who I maybe, to me, if I had to pick one improviser in my life that I saw live that blew my… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
Benny Carter came up to me and said to me, "You know, in the whole history of the alto, I think Phil is the… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
“know that I’m not a human being having a spiritual experience. I’m a spiritual being having a human experience.” — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
It's very unlikely you're a genius, but, if you're ready to work at it hard and you want to listen to music all the… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
The first jazz cruise that I was on was '91. I played with Maria Schneider and John Fedchock's band. Got to meet some amazing… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
I just lucked into a lot of good people man. In my life and through friends, and in the music, that really embraced me… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
Every morning you have a choice. Are you going to be a positive thinker or a negative thinker? Positive thinking will energize you. — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
I was occasionally getting calls for some things. But I would say, 22 to 29 was a lot of scuffling. Hoping to get called… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
There are a lot of people that impacted me. I remember hearing Oscar Peterson live at the Blue Note, which was very expensive, but...… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
There's a lot of good people out here that want to help you grow and to help the music to continue to grow and… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
Ernie Hayes, Jimmy Lewis, and either Belton Evans or Khalil Mahdi on drums [were in Sweet Basil]. All those guys really took care of… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
![“You do [jazz] because you love it and hope many some others may as well. You do this because you need it.” quote by Jon Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/289/jon-gordon-1655_hope_you-do-jazz-because-you-love-it-and-hope_1884919.jpg)
![“I would sit in at a jazz brunch [at sweet Basil] with Eddie Chamblee, who was a great tenor player. Really a kind man. The whole band was great.” quote by Jon Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/bc6/jon-gordon-1655_band_i-would-sit-in-at-a-jazz-brunch-at-sweet_1147668.jpg)
![“[Manhattan School Of Music] didn't' have a jazz undergraduate program at the time so I played a semester in the big band. There was a graduate program. But I wasn't really that involved in jazz yet.” quote by Jon Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/196/jon-gordon-1655_band_manhattan-school-of-music-didn-t-have-a_2867269.jpg)
![“When I was 13, 14, 15, I had played in a couple of jazz ensembles. I didn't know anything about harmony, about II-V-I, though I had learned my scales with Caesar [DiMauro].” quote by Jon Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/7d4/jon-gordon-1655_couple_when-i-was-13-14-15-i-had-played-in-a-co_2097195.jpg)
![“[Manhattan School Of Music] were kind of just getting the jazz program up and going when I first started there. I was 17 in September of 1984 when I started there.” quote by Jon Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/6c2/jon-gordon-1655_firsts_manhattan-school-of-music-were-kind-of-j_2051074.jpg)
![“[Eddie Locke] had a huge impact in my life. He was a great jazz drummer. He was mentored by Papa Joe Jones and he played for many years with Coleman Hawkins and Roy Eldridge and actually got me on a gig with Roy Eldridge when I was 20 that I'll never forget.” quote by Jon Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/6c5/jon-gordon-1655_drummer_eddie-locke-had-a-huge-impact-in-my-life_3109910.jpg)
![“We spent all day together [with Phil Wood] at that one particular lesson, which was maybe the third or fourth lesson, in from 11:00 in the morning to 11:00 at night. We often did a lot of varied things. It wasn't just about jazz language and the saxophone.” quote by Jon Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/5f5/jon-gordon-1655_fourth_we-spent-all-day-together-with-phil-wood_2211142.jpg)
![“[Charlie Parker] was kind of a sponge and intrigued by it all.That's similar to what Phil [Woods] told me about Bird, too. Like he was into cooking. He was just into a lot of things. Yeah, it's about dealing with bebop and jazz and Trane [John Coltrain] and post-Trane and knowing the history. But…” quote by Jon Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/a35/jon-gordon-1655_art_charlie-parker-was-kind-of-a-sponge-and_2500883.jpg)
![“Barry Harris had a club called Jazz Cultural Theater and there were sessions there on a regular basis. I remember being there and sitting in with [Charles] McPherson and Barry being there, and just smiling at me. He didn't talk to me much at the time, he just came up and gave me a smile, which…” quote by Jon Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/053/jon-gordon-1655_bases_barry-harris-had-a-club-called-jazz-cult_763311.jpg)
![“Justin [Di Cioccio] was [at Laguardia School of Arts]. He later took over at Manhattan. But I knew Justin through the McDonald's band, which at the time I was finishing high school and starting college, I got involved with. I was not that heavily involved with the school at MSM my first year…” quote by Jon Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/275/jon-gordon-1655_art_justin-di-cioccio-was-at-laguardia-schoo_2555432.jpg)
![“By the latter part of high school, by the middle of junior year in high school, Jay Rodriguez played me some Irakere records that that Paquito [D'Rivera] was on. And he also played me and our friend, Curtis Haywood, some Phil Woods records. And when I heard Phil, I just about lost my mind. I was…” quote by Jon Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/b89/jon-gordon-1655_80s_by-the-latter-part-of-high-school-by-the_2544684.jpg)
![“Ernie Hayes, Jimmy Lewis, and either Belton Evans or Khalil Mahdi on drums [were in Sweet Basil]. All those guys really took care of me.” quote by Jon Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/400/jon-gordon-1655_basil_ernie-hayes-jimmy-lewis-and-either-belto_200776.jpg)