What was you early background on the piano?

I used to listen to my mother, who could play be ear, and I imitated her and started playing by ear myself [...] What changed me was listening to Guy Lombardo's pianist. In fact, I liked his whole orchestra [...]

The next step was while I was studying at Gonzaga, where I met Don Brown, a Blackfoot Indian and a real genius. He forced me to listen to Teddy Wilson, and I resisted at first because I thought I knew what I wanted. But after about four bars I said to myself, "That's it! That's the way I want to play piano!"