"Eddie Harris struck a chord with me. His sax playing went straight to my heart the first time I heard my mother spinning his records back in the day. My parents were of the jazz age, and they played their favorite records all the time on our home's imposing Magnavox console record player. I would hear the greatest horn players filling our family room as I was turning into a young musician myself. I took note.

"Eddie was a complete original, a genius and the most forward-thinking player I ever heard. He was part Miles, part Coltrane, part Hendrix, and yet he existed in a world all his own. I've never heard anyone besides him make odd time that was so funky and physically inviting. He had the chops, but he still felt the need to develop a way to sing through his horn – literally.

"The effect was chilling, and exactly what a 14-year-old budding rock guitarist wanted to hear from a saxophone."