You could never tell what was going on with Miles. You'd always leave the session not knowing if they got anything of any value because it was always so different.

He just blew me away and what it taught me was that Miles didn't hear it as a mistake.

There's Charlie Parker and there's Miles, there's Trane. I'm none of those guys, so why am I beating myself up trying to find the lost chord all the time?

Still, when I finally left Miles in '68 and got my own band, it was a logical step; because anybody that left Miles always had their own band.

So much of what I create has been due to the influence of Miles Davis and Donald Byrd, and so many of those that have passed on. Their music, their legacy lives on with the rest of us because we are so highly influenced by their experience and what they have given us.

Being a musician is what I do, but it's not what I am.