For better as well as worse, his lifestyle is a far cry from the days when he worked in the fabled Savoy Ballroom in Harlem, where, he recalls, ''the guy who ran it hated musicians because one of them ran off with his old lady. He recalls the old days with perhaps a bit too much relish for his own good. No bearer of grudges, Terry forgave Miles Davis, a junkie at the time, when the latter walked out with his wardrobe after borrowing his apartment. He's no angel, though. A devilish cackle accompanies a story about how one of his sidemen who had canceled at the last minute and lied to him about it in order to take a better paying job elsewhere was eventually victimized by his own deceit.
Terry loves gossip.
Obviously he loves still being an active part of the folklore. He's hooked on playing music for people, hooked on people in general. Stepping back from all of that will be hard. Leading a touring band at his age is tough. Happily, there are options.