GETTING RIGHT:

I only realized when I spoke to you a couple of years ago that you had to give up the saxophone. So much of your life had been about using music to fulfill your potential as a person. Now that you don't play, is fulfillment still possible? 

When I had to stop playing it was quite traumatic. But I realized that instead of lamenting and crying, I should be grateful for the fact that I was able to do music all of my life. So I had that realization, plus my spiritual beliefs, which I've been cultivating for many years. All that work went into my accepting the fact that I couldn't play my horn.

Tell me more about that work. 

I'm working toward why I'm here -- what it's all about. At this point in my life I'm -- well, I don't want to say satisfied, but I feel that I'm closer to an understanding. It's always been my idea that the golden rule is a good thing, but I wasn't quite able to understand if the golden rule was possible. If somebody is playing music and I'm playing music and we're in a saxophone battle, I still have to play my best, regardless of the other guy. It has nothing to do with my trying to make him feel bad because playing music is for a higher cause. So I believe living by the golden rule is possible. Not only possible but the reason we're here.

Were you playing for a higher cause on something like "The Serpent's Tooth" with Charlie Parker and Miles Davis? In your solo you quoted the melody of "Anything You Can Do (I Can Do Better)." That wasn't intended as a provocation? 

If I was so stupid to have to implied that, then I was ignorant. I was in Miles's band at the time and "Anything You Can Do (I Can Do Better)" was just one of the riffs that we played. It had nothing to do with my attitude about Charlie Parker. I would never say that to him. But I take your criticism. I might have been a foolish young boy playing that to his guru. If there was a little of that, it was sophomoric. I was ignorant. I am still ignorant about many things.

I'm also thinking about when you played with John Coltrane on "Tenor Madness." There's a part of that performance where you guys were trading fours and he played a lick and in response you played the same lick but with the notes reversed. That wasn't meant as one-upmanship? 

David, I don't believe I've mentioned this to many people. When I played with Coltrane, I had the impression -- and back then it was true -- that I was much more popular than him. I remember what Kamasi Washington said about "Tenor Madness": "Sonny, you weren't even really playing." I wasn't really playing. Coltrane was playing. I was only playing halfway, because I thought that I was the guy and that Coltrane was this young whippersnapper. That was my mind-set. It was immature.

So you were holding back to show your status? 

Exactly. I don't want people to think that I'm saying, "Oh, wow, I could have played much better," but that's the story of "Tenor Madness." My attitude on it wasn't right.

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