Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with  Veteran Jazz Saxophonist Vincent Herring .. On the heels of a new 2017 CD Hard Times .. life is good .. He grew up in Hopkinsville, Kentucky and started playing saxophone at the age of 11 in school bands – He went on to play in the Military Academy Band at West Point and would work with Cedar Walton for more than 20 years – that led to gigs with the likes of Freddie Hubbard, Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Hayes, Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers and Horace Silver Quintet over a career that has produced over 20 titles as a leader and over 250 as a sideman .. This interview was a long time comin’ ..