Bill Shiner from the Bronx who taught Fred Lipsius (and Stan Getz) said the quote in the title.

Fred Lipsius plays sax and teaches at Berklee.

In a recent interview with David Valdez, Lipsius says,

“There should be some ‘substance’ there, rather than rambling on with lots of notes/technique but not really saying anything meaningful – not telling a story.”

In that interview, he also mentions great saxophone players like Sonny Rollins and how he takes ideas and really develops them.

It helps to be articulate on the saxophone to say the ideas that you have inside.

But being articulate without substance is going to get boring quickly!

Sometimes all it takes is simplification of what you’re playing- taking away the parts that don’t really need to be there and keeping the parts that mean something.  You can start with a simple idea and expand on it and take it somewhere.