What about that Dave Brubeck live album, with a version of 'Like Someone in Love' on it, and long sax solos by Paul Desmond? That's what got me hooked on jazz.

Originally, we had a band known as Steely Dan. As we moved away from the band, we got whoever was appropriate for specific tunes. In a lot of cases, we gravitated toward jazz players who had more sophisticated harmonic concepts.

I listen to a mixture of old jazz, contemporary, pop, some world beat stuff and various odds and ends.

If there's a strange way to do something, I would certainly like to know about it. I feel that I owe that to my public.

Most of the time when people say something sounds like Steely Dan, and I listen to it, it doesn't. And I'm not even sure what they're talking about.

Cynicism, I contend, is the wailing of someone who believes that things are, or should be, or could be, much, much better than they are.