I grew up without jazz. I wasn't exposed to jazz until about three years ago when my best friend finally got me to check out some jazz albums. He had been working on me awhile, but for some reason I had been a little resistant. I picked up John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme" and Jimmy Smith's "The Sermon" at his recommendation. I was hooked. I caught a video of Miles Davis and Coltrane blowing on "So What" and ran out and picked up "Kind of Blue" that very day. I found a couple of discs by Dave Brubeck and Dizzy Gillespie in a pawn shop. I'm just sick about all the years that I missed out on listening to jazz. If someone had exposed me to Coltrane's music when I was younger, I might not have given up the saxophone. Still, I'm thankful that I did discover what I was missing. In a short time, I've managed to see Arturo Sandoval, Wayne Shorter Quartet, Roy Haynes' Birds of a Feather Quintet and the Dave Brubeck Quartet live! Now, the homeless guys, where I work, call me the Jazz Man because that's what I'm always playing while I'm working in the dayshelter.