Willie Akins

Can you simplify? Or you have people that'll just say, let's simplify.

Because I've had instances up to just being behind, say, a D.D. Bridgewater or like the late great Willie Akins from St. Louis, who I went through his whole school.

So.

Because of Willie, when I moved to New York, I knew at least 1,000 to 1,500 tunes that prepared me for New York.

Because you were playing with him before? Yeah, like when I was 16, 17, 18, we weren't even supposed to be in the jazz clubs.

And Willie Akins, he came up with Booker Irving.

When you think about Booker Irving, you think about Sonny Rollins.

You think about Coltrane.