It was when I was 13 years old and my father took me to Carnegie Hall to see Louie Armstrong. It’s fair to say that everything I apply in my relationship with an audience, when I perform, I learned from him that night.

I learned about giving recognition to others on the bandstand and explaining to the audience why they were there and why they were important. I learned about giving everyone else on the bandstand some musical individual time. Whether solos or entire pieces played by one person. Then the audience was able to see and understand the skill of that person, without being distracted by the other members.

I learned about individual excellence and how people of great skill can work together for a common cause. I learned how important it is to make the distance between a performer and the audience disappear, if the music was to be effective.

And I learned all of that stuff that night. And I tried to apply it all the time. And I have my entire life.