Bud Freeman discusses the early days of his jazz career.

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Bud Freeman discusses his career drive.

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Bud Freeman on being a saxophone player.

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Q: “What is it that keeps you going? You’ve been playing for fifty-five years now!”

A: “Thank you for saying 55 or 56. You're trying to make me look young, I know. Well, I think it's the step of once a man becomes a jazz musician, which as you know, Ted, if one were, say, playing in the symphony, one would be subservient to the conductor and, you know, it's not all that much fun. And you'll always worry that you're going to run into a temperamental guest conductor. In jazz, you are the conductor. In jazz, you are the direction. In jazz, you are the composer. So there is this complete freedom and I think that once a man understands this and feels this music, there is no way that he's every going to stop playing it.”