W. o’ W.: Bob Brookmeyer (R.I.P.)

“If you give a soloist an open solo for thirty seconds, he plays like he’s coming from the piece that you wrote. Then he says, ‘What the hell was that piece I was playing from?’ And the next thirty seconds is, ‘Oh, I guess I’ll play what I learned last night.’ And bang! Minute Two is whoever he likes. Which is probably Coltrane.”