[My mother told me] stories about Nat King Cole, and Miles Davis, and seeing pictures in later years with band leaders like… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
I went in [Sweet Basil band] and played with them, maybe half the gig for almost eight years or more. — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
I think we're in a time and place, the last 20 plus years, and certainly now, it's only more so, where it's… — 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
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
Teaching has definitely become a big part of my life in the past ten plus years. As it often does for many… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
I've been thankful to work with some wonderful people and sort of combine forces with some folks that... like in recent years,… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
I wasn't expecting [the Monk competition] would necessarily do that. So I just did what I did and some good things continued… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
We were poor [with my mother], and we didn't have too much. So we sat on the floor and we had a… — 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
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
Everybody wants the quick fix, but it doesn't happen overnight. You have to be willing to put it out there. I call… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
I learned some classical music history, which I had done quite a bit at of Performing Arts. But I got some more… — 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
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
When I got to Performing Arts, within the first week, a few days, Bill Charlap walked in and couldn't read music but… — 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 great year with Bob Mintzer [at Laguardia School of Arts]. Bob is great. We could have just brought the… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
Earlier that year [1996], Ronnie Scott came to Visiones when I was playing with Maria and he hired me to come and… — 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 got to perform the [Jaques] Ibert Concertino Da Camera with a brilliant pianist at school named Chunga. I got to perform… — Jon Gordon Copy Share Image
Hearing Phil [wood] a lot, those few years especially when I was going to hear music and Tom Harrell was in the… — 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
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
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
“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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
A true leader doesn't lead to gain power. They lead to empower and give power away. — Jon Gordon Copy Share
We had Bob's [Gordon] records, and he's on Clifford Brown's first record as a leader. I believe it was Clifford Brown's first record as… — Jon Gordon Copy Share
Another classical music teacher from Performing Arts that I've stayed in contact with is Jonathan Strasser. — Jon Gordon Copy Share
![“[My mother told me] stories about Nat King Cole, and Miles Davis, and seeing pictures in later years with band leaders like Alvino Ray.” quote by Jon Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e42/jon-gordon-1655_band_my-mother-told-me-stories-about-nat-king_1548773.png)
![“I went in [Sweet Basil band] and played with them, maybe half the gig for almost eight years or more.” quote by Jon Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec8/jon-gordon-1655_band_i-went-in-sweet-basil-band-and-played-wi_1506826.png)
![“We still talk about [school band]. Almost 40 years later. It's like people are talking about, "Man we need to have a morning band reunion".” quote by Jon Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a1a/jon-gordon-1655_band_we-still-talk-about-school-band-almost-4_2935248.png)
![“I wasn't expecting [the Monk competition] would necessarily do that. So I just did what I did and some good things continued to happen and some doors continued to open and that kind of led me into the different associations that I developed in my 30s and some records that I've made on ArtistShare…” quote by Jon Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/685/jon-gordon-1655_association_i-wasn-t-expecting-the-monk-competition_885761.jpg)
![“We were poor [with my mother], and we didn't have too much. So we sat on the floor and we had a record player, and that's all we had in that room in the apartment. But we had whatever we had. Six records and a record player and it seemed like magic. Seven or eight years old, you know.” quote by Jon Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e74/jon-gordon-1655_apartment_we-were-poor-with-my-mother-and-we-didn_3229414.png)
![“[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/i/6c5/jon-gordon-1655_drummer_eddie-locke-had-a-huge-impact-in-my-life_3109910.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/i/b89/jon-gordon-1655_80s_by-the-latter-part-of-high-school-by-the_2544684.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/i/275/jon-gordon-1655_art_justin-di-cioccio-was-at-laguardia-schoo_2555432.jpg)
![“I had a great year with Bob Mintzer [at Laguardia School of Arts]. Bob is great. We could have just brought the clarinet or dealt with classical stuff, or brought the flute or just dealt with comp and arranging... what a great teacher.” quote by Jon Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b9/jon-gordon-1655_arranging_i-had-a-great-year-with-bob-mintzer-at-l_493182.jpg)
![“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.” quote by Jon Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/493/jon-gordon-1655_clubs_earlier-that-year-1996-ronnie-scott-came_2252458.jpg)
![“I got to perform the [Jaques] Ibert Concertino Da Camera with a brilliant pianist at school named Chunga. I got to perform the [Alexander] Glazunov Concerto in senior year with our school orchestra and the Jewish Grossman orchestra. I won a scholarship from the Goldman band to perform the [Paul]…” quote by Jon Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01e/jon-gordon-1655_band_i-got-to-perform-the-jaques-ibert-concer_3097906.png)
![“Hearing Phil [wood] a lot, those few years especially when I was going to hear music and Tom Harrell was in the band. Man that was incredible. Hearing Tom at that period, and hearing Phil in that period, and also [Charles] McPherson. Those three guys were very impactful. Very inspiring to me at…” quote by Jon Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ef/jon-gordon-1655_band_hearing-phil-wood-a-lot-those-few-years_2009771.png)
![“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/i/3c7/jon-gordon-1655_art_i-was-finishing-up-at-high-school-of-per_2762115.png)