Pat Metheny Quotes (23 Quotes)

People sometimes say it takes a long time to become a jazz fan, but for me it took about five seconds.

There's more bad music in jazz than any other form. Maybe that's because the audience doesn't really know what's happening.

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

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

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

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

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

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

I hate the way chorus boxes sound.

I like to explore the full gamut of possibilities ... as many possibilities as possible. With David's saxophone in the mix we have a full palette to work from. With the four of us together on stage, watch out.

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

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

I was deep in the zone of practicing almost constantly.

The goal would be to always honor the music. That is the most important thing. I try to represent the high standards that have been set.

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

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

I was totally involved in trying to figure out a way of doing things with my instrument that would fit the ideas that I had in my head.

Listening is the key to everything good in music.

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

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.

The chorused thing, I would have to say I was the first to use extensively in jazz, and that seemed to have influenced a lot of other guys.

Whatever my recorded output is, it's a reflection of a general love of music.

I don't know if I would qualify as mainstream. I think I have managed to function pretty successfully on the fringes of the music world and have been able to play exactly what I have wanted the way I have wanted.