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… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
We [with my mother] listened to music when I was a kid. We listened to a little bit of Bob's [Gordon] music,… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
Families that I lived with a little bit in junior high and quite a bit in high school and college. Just to… — 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
A tenor player named Bud Revels there at the time. A lot of really nice associations amongst the students. Garry Dial was… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
What I feel the most confident about as a teacher, whatever my strengths and weaknesses are. The fact that I got to… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
I have worked in the homes of many successful people and have seen firsthand that everyone fails in life, but failure can… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
There were a lot of great things you could go and hear for very little money at the time [ '80s]. Mike… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
Phil [Wood] was known for having a little bit of a gruff manner, but he was all heart. — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
I don't know that there was a moment, like one specific moment where I was like "Ugh. Now what do I do?"… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
If you go with that spirit, good things will come for you. If you go into it with an assumption that you're… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
[My mother] told me a little bit about the scene out there and I think, as a small child, I just always… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
I'm reaching a certain level [at school] that I had been aspiring to with all these incredibly advanced classical peers around me… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
I had a lot of bad habits in how I was playing the horn. And I slowly, in high school and college,… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
There were some things I was going and doing in Europe a little bit. Some festivals that brought me over. That was… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
I was able to go over [Saxophone Competition] and work a little more in Europe. I'm thankful that those of kinds of… — 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
![“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.” quote by Jon Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/8fd/jon-gordon-1655_bits_i-m-very-gratified-that-i-had-my-little_744660.jpg)
![“We [with my mother] listened to music when I was a kid. We listened to a little bit of Bob's [Gordon] music, but just a little, I think it was too painful for her.” quote by Jon Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/9dc/jon-gordon-1655_bits_we-with-my-mother-listened-to-music-when_1286460.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)
![“There were a lot of great things you could go and hear for very little money at the time [ '80s]. Mike Stern is still playing at the 55 Bar on Mondays or Wednesdays.” quote by Jon Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/56b/jon-gordon-1655_80s_there-were-a-lot-of-great-things-you-cou_3062425.jpg)
![“Phil [Wood] was known for having a little bit of a gruff manner, but he was all heart.” quote by Jon Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/1a8/jon-gordon-1655_bits_phil-wood-was-known-for-having-a-little_2380492.jpg)
![“[My mother] told me a little bit about the scene out there and I think, as a small child, I just always felt a connection to that history because my mother had described it to me.” quote by Jon Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/dd4/jon-gordon-1655_bits_my-mother-told-me-a-little-bit-about-the_2939919.jpg)
![“I'm reaching a certain level [at school] that I had been aspiring to with all these incredibly advanced classical peers around me that I had been trying to be able to hang with them a little bit.” quote by Jon Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/949/jon-gordon-1655_able_i-m-reaching-a-certain-level-at-school-t_662774.jpg)
![“There were some things I was going and doing in Europe a little bit. Some festivals that brought me over. That was good. Some touring I did over there. But there was nothing major [from 22 to 29].” quote by Jon Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/3d7/jon-gordon-1655_bits_there-were-some-things-i-was-going-and-d_3160370.jpg)
![“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…” quote by Jon Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/72b/jon-gordon-1655_able_i-was-able-to-go-over-saxophone-competit_3208464.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)