I've always felt that, when I looked at my tombstone, it shouldn't say, 'Mehmet Oz banged out 10,000 open-heart operations.' I've probably done 5,000. Am I any better at it than 10,000? He shook his head. It's just a different number on the tombstone. ↗
Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn. They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art. ↗
I don't have role models or watch much TV. I go to awards ceremonies but often I don't even know who the people are. I think that's good, because then you don't have preconceived ideas about them. ↗
If you want to act, you have to devote yourself to it. Send out letters and photos every day, work all the hours under the sun, whatever it takes. If you're not determined, you won't get anywhere. ↗
I think the solo playing, the decision to start playing solo, came out of having discovered what lay behind the doors that that technique opened for me. ↗