Pat Metheny

“I don't worry too much about the fundamentalist principles that are in almost any discussion about jazz.”

“I was deep in the zone of practicing almost constantly.”

“I realized that equipment really had little to do with why I sound like the way I sound.”

“I would always contend that talent is an element, but over the long run, ultimately, a minor part of it all; it is mostly hard work.”

“A lot of jazz artists think people should like what they're doing just because it's jazz. I don't buy that.”

“I can't really say enough about Chris Potter. He is one of the greatest musicians I have ever known, and every second I have been on the band stand with him has been an absolute pleasure.”

“I have three young kids and a great family. I love hanging out with them more than anything.”

“I think jazz is actually quite unforgiving in its disdain for nostalgia. It demands creativity and change at its highest level.”

“The beauty of jazz is that it's malleable. People are addressing it to suit their own personalities.”

“Someone who knew me when I was 14 said I was the oldest 14-year-old on the planet. Now I'm a 14-year-old who is 60.”

“My older brother Mike is an excellent trumpet player. By the time he was 12, he was playing around Kansas City in classical situations. He was already an amazing talent.”

“Somehow, trumpet is the reference point for me - it was actually my first instrument.”

“No two notes are ever the same volume. With the guitar, you really have to model in your mind this wider thing; you're trying to create the illusion of a bigger dynamic range.”

“I saw A Hard Day's Night 12 or 13 times.”

“If you come to my house, you won't see a wall of trophies or things like that. I'm sort of 'on to the next thing' all the time.”

“The pianist Cecil Taylor is extremely melodic; the guitarist Derek Bailey is extremely melodic, and Ornette Coleman.”

“There are some musicians who are talented and see themselves as some kind of natural geniuses or something because of a certain amount of natural ability. But that is often rarely the case over the long term.”

“I was able to work with the best musicians in Kansas City starting when I was really young.”

“What I look for in musicians is a sense of infinity.”

“I'm always trying to find 'connections' between things. That art is the juxtaposition of a lot of things that seem unrelated but add up to something recognizable.”