Buzzy liked my sense of music. And one night, when we were sitting up in his room listening to records, he said to me, “What do you think about when you’re playing the drums?” And I said, “I don’t know, try not to speed up or slow down, and play something that’s appropriate to what the musicians are playing.”

And he asked me, “Well, what about swing?” And I said, “Well, I know that word, but I’m not really sure what it means.” Well, he got out three different records that were very swinging: “Avenue C” by Count Basie, “Mellow Mood” by Dodo Marmarosa’s trio, and Ellington’s “Jumpin’ Pumpkins,” the V-Disc version. And he danced these records for me. And it was just like a revelation: I immediately saw exactly what he meant, you know?

And Buzzy said, “You ever roll a tire down the street? You don’t have to keep pushing it once it’s going. You just have to guide it a little bit.” So he started me out on a lifetime study of how to get that good feeling in the music when you’re playing it.