[Winning the Thelonious Monk International Saxophone Competition]definitely opened some doors. — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
When I was a kid, I always saw these pictures of a man called Bob Gordon with a baritone saxophone, who I… — 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… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
I was [ on Thelonious Monk International Saxophone Competition] with Ralph Bowen, and Joel Frahm, Jimmy Greene, John Ellis. You can't play… — 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
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
I also met Charles McPherson around that time, end of high school. I was 17 and I had followed Phil around for… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
I finally got to junior high and I got to start saxophone. There were a few of us that were in the… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
[Larry Laurenzano] gave me a junior high school saxophone to take to high school, because I was always taking one of our… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
I never really had a classical saxophone set-up. I just had a middle of the road set up. — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
I was studying with Joe Allard, which was great, as a saxophone student. Being able to study with Joe Allard was an… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
I was finishing up at High School of Performing Arts and finally, by the end of junior year and start of senior… — 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
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
![“[Winning the Thelonious Monk International Saxophone Competition]definitely opened some doors.” quote by Jon Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/1d3/jon-gordon-1655_competition_winning-the-thelonious-monk-internationa_658906.jpg)
![“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)
![“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.” quote by Jon Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/3bb/jon-gordon-1655_competition_i-was-on-thelonious-monk-international-s_843648.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)
![“[Larry Laurenzano] gave me a junior high school saxophone to take to high school, because I was always taking one of our school horns home to practice and I couldn't afford to buy one. He gave my friend, Tyrone, a tuba and he gave me a junior high saxophone for each of us to use at Performing Arts…” quote by Jon Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/217/jon-gordon-1655_art_larry-laurenzano-gave-me-a-junior-high-s_1950287.jpg)
![“I was finishing up at High School of Performing Arts and finally, by the end of junior year and start of senior year, made some progress as a 16 year-old classical saxophone player. But not really... not like how the legit cats do. But I love the [Jacques] Ibert, love [Alexander] Glazunov, love…” quote by Jon Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/3c7/jon-gordon-1655_art_i-was-finishing-up-at-high-school-of-per_2762115.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)