I played alto saxophone first. I was in the third grade, and my mother brought the saxophone home. My twin brother played the drums, my sister played the clarinet—so it was a musical family. My brother and I, we stuck with it. He plays in church and I play all over the world.

I joined the Lowrider Band in 1994. I was playing at Tipitina’s with Don Roussel Band; we were the opening act. And I asked Howard Scott, the guitarist and the leader of the band, if I could sit in with them, because ...