Pat Metheny

“'The Unity Band' project has been life-changing for me. I have led many groups of talented musicians, but this is unlike anything else.”

“I'm always inspired when there's a robustness to the material in front of me.”

“The reality of music itself, which is the fabric of life for me, is where most of my attention is.”

“Jazz is not something that can be defined through blunt instruments. It is much more poetic than that.”

“I used to love going and playing jam sessions, doing things spontaneously. I can't do that anymore. Everything you do is documented, nothing is casual anymore.”

“For me, let's keep jazz as folk music. Let's not make jazz classical music. Let's keep it as street music, as people's everyday-life music. Let's see jazz musicians continue to use the materials, the tools, the spirit of the actual time that they're living in, as what they build their lives as musicians around.”

“Listening is the key to everything good in music.”

“One of the things jazz has always excelled at is translating the reality of the times through its musical prism.”

“I love playing and working on music. It is something that I feel really lucky to be able to spend my life doing. And I don't sleep much!”

“It's more about conception and touch and spirit and soul than whether my hardware was in place.”

“From 1962 to 1965, the guitar became this icon of youth culture, thanks mostly to the Beatles.”

“There are musicians who go through their lives sort of shedding their skins. For me, I've always felt backward-compatible to Version 1.0.”

“I didn't want there to be a computer on stage. When I see people with computers on stage, I think, 'Are you sending e-mail?' That's so corny.”

“The guitar for me is a translation device. It's not a goal. And in some ways, jazz isn't a destination for me. For me, jazz is a vehicle that takes you to the true destination - a musical one that describes all kinds of stuff about the human condition and the way music works.”

“If we are going to list guitar influences, the biggest one by far is Wes Montgomery. Also, Gary Burton was obviously huge for me in a number of ways. But beyond that, Clifford Brown, Miles Davis and Freddie Hubbard.”

“I think I have a basic sound aesthetic that is in most of what I do.”

“I'm triggering acoustic instruments. I'm literally beating, smacking, hitting, blowing, doing physical things. It's an incredibly exciting way to make music.”

“I think I represent a more left-wing view of what jazz is.”

“I hate the way chorus boxes sound.”

“The first thing I learned was the theme from Peter Gunn.”