I was also sitting in from the middle of senior year of high school at Sweet Basil, it was a great club… — 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
I had a great year with Bob Mintzer [at Laguardia School of Arts]. Bob is great. We could have just brought the… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
We had a great educator [in the school band], a man named Larry Laurenzano. He was tough, but we knew that he… — 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 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
I asked all through third, fourth and fifth grade, when they were asking kids to be in the band, to be in… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
I left school December of 1988. I was 21 at the time. And I hadn't quite finished my degree because I had… — 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
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
I didn't always have time to practice as much as I wanted to do, that was a real problem for me in… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
[Charlie "Bird" Parker] would sit down and ask [Phil Wood], "What do you think about this whole secondary Viennese school with Schoenberg,… — 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
[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
[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
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 think what frustrated me more than anything else in my formative years was that I just had to work. I had… — 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
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
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
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
Walk down Forest Ave to Joey's Pizza like we used to do after performances, which doesn't exist anymore. We had a sense… — 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
We still talk about [school band]. Almost 40 years later. It's like people are talking about, "Man we need to have a… — 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
![“We had a great educator [in the school band], a…” quote by Jon Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/7dd/jon-gordon-1655_band_we-had-a-great-educator-in-the-school-ba_592776.jpg)
![“I'm reaching a certain level [at school] that I had…” 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)
![“[Charlie "Bird" Parker] would sit down and ask [Phil Wood],…” quote by Jon Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/d1a/jon-gordon-1655_asks_charlie-bird-parker-would-sit-down-and-a_1110923.jpg)
![“[Larry Laurenzano] gave me a junior high school saxophone to…” 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)
![“[Manhattan School Of Music] were kind of just getting the…” 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)
![“I was in choir [at school].…” quote by Jon Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/7a7/jon-gordon-1655_choir_i-was-in-choir-at-school-2164567_2164567.jpg)
![“Justin [Di Cioccio] was [at Laguardia School of Arts]. He…” quote by Jon Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/275/jon-gordon-1655_art_justin-di-cioccio-was-at-laguardia-schoo_2555432.jpg)
![“[Manhattan School Of Music] didn't' have a jazz undergraduate program…” 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)
![“We still talk about [school band]. Almost 40 years later.…” quote by Jon Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/a1a/jon-gordon-1655_band_we-still-talk-about-school-band-almost-4_2935248.jpg)
