I got a job at Birdland selling cigarettes. It was really exciting, I got to hear everybody. Paul Bley came and bought a pack of cigarettes from me a couple of months into the gig. I started writing for him immediately. He wanted me to write for him. He would say, “I have a record date tomorrow, and I need six tunes.” So I would sit down and write them, just small, little ideas. And then other people started asking me to write for them.
But a lot of bass players past through Paul Bley. If they came to town, they would look him up, because he always needed a bass player. He gave them a lot of room.
