What More Do You Have to Prove?

Adrian Crutchfield, NPG HORNZ saxophonist reflects on Prince:

"The Arsenio Hall show, which was epic, changed my life. Because I had a saxophone solo on Mutiny, and it's supposed to be two choruses. And I remember when I first starting taking that solo, when we first started playing Mutiny, back when, there was a really, really epic moment between Prince and I...

I was just trying to play some really killing chops stuff on the saxophone during the solo, and he stopped me and he explains, 'You don't want to do too much.' He said, 'You don't have anything to prove. You're already here.' It was huge because in my mind I still have something to prove, 'cause there are 10 other motherf*'s here that can take this solo, so I gotta bring it.

But he said 'You don't have anything to prove, you're already here.' [And what that meant was, without him being arrogant, he's basically saying: You're playing a saxophone solo in Prince's band. What more do you have to prove to the world?]

He said, 'Now all you need to do is have a conversation: Hi, my name is Adrian, what's yours? And then wait for a response. And then begin the conversation again. If you just keep talking, whoever you're talking to is going to lose interest because you're not letting them respond or absorb what you're saying.'

And that changed my life because from that moment on it didn't matter where I was playing, who I was playing for, or what I was doing, I didn't have anything to prove. And I could just play and enjoy the music."

The Dr Funk Podcast, Episode 30, 11/17/16