On Feb. 27,  Wynton Marsalis spoke to Gayle King on CBS Mornings about the 20th season at Frederick P. Rose Hall in New York where he serves as managing and artistic director.

Frederick P. Rose Hall opened in 2004 as the world’s first facility entirely devoted to jazz, and especially designed for the warmth and clarity of the sound of jazz.

Located on the fifth floor of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall in the Deutsche Bank Center at Columbus Circle, Rose Theater is the venue’s largest performing arts space. It features three levels, sleek wood veneer seating boxes and moveable stage towers that can be configured for a theater-in-the-round or a traditional proscenium look. The theater accommodates everything from jazz concerts to opera, theater, symphonies and dance, as well as conferences, product launches, film screenings, and award ceremonies. The stage hosts an international roster of jazz luminaries including regular performances of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Marsalis, as well as shows from Lincoln Center Festival, Mostly Mozart Festival and Lincoln Center’s White Light Festival.

Wynton Marsalis talked to King about the difficulties that faced alongside the company’s orchestra at the theater, citing everything from fires to learning the difficult lessons of how things work in New York City versus the way they work in New Orleans.  As he puts it, there were a lot of moving parts as the small organization worked to raise money for the jazz concert hall. He told King that ass they started their journey to build Frederick P. Rose Hall, the group ran out of funds.

Marsalis wasn’t sure if the building would ever get finished. He talked about how New York workers refused to do the work without being paid.

“At a certain point, [a] gentleman I was talkin’ to, I don’t remember his name, he said, ‘Look, man.’ He said, ‘I live down the street from John Coltrane’s house in Long Island. We’re gonna finish this,'” recalled Marsalis, adding that he’ll “tear up thinkin’ about it.”

Marsalis, the son of the legendary Ellis Marsalis Jr., moved to New York City in 1979 to attend the Juilliard School, one of only two music schools he applied to. In 1987, Marsalis helped start the Classical Jazz summer concert series at Lincoln Center in New York City.

Watch the full interview with Wynton Marsalis below.