As I Turn 91... I Have To

You Know What I Like About San Francisco? The Women Are Beautiful, Fashionable And Smart. San Francisco Is One Of The Only Cities I Like To Visit. I Love New York And Chicago - I Studied There, And L.a. Has The Same People As New York.

The Big Shock Of My Life Was Abstract Expressionism - Pollock, De Kooning, Those Guys. It Changed My Work. I Was An Academically Trained Student, And Suddenly You Could Pour Paint, Smear It On, Broom It On!

It Has Been Difficult To Hold Onto Many Paintings But I Have Retained A Few. Possibly The Current Favorite Is Titled 'big Band' Completed In 2005. It Measures 13 Feet X 9 Feet. It Has 18 Nearly Life Size Recognizable Portraits Of The Biggest Jazz Stars That I Knew And Saw Perform In The 1950s, '60s, '70s, '80s And Includes Wynton Marsalis.

I Always Stayed In Tune With My Own Ambitions And Attitudes And I'm Still My Intractable Old Self, For Better Or Worse.

The Businessman Says 'if I Don't Do It First, Somebody Else Will.' The Artist Says 'if I Don't Do It First, Nobody Else Will.'