Pat Metheny

Listening is the key to everything good in music.

The beauty of Jazz is that it’s malleable. People address it to suit their own personalities.

Jazz demands that you bring to it things that are valuable to you, that are personal to you.

Jazz is an idea that is more powerful than the details of its history.

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

Jazz music will continue to thrive, possibly in unexpected ways.

Dog spelled backward is God. That’s pretty heavy.

For most dates I was paid the sum of $1 per hr and they always tipped me at the end of the night.

What does music mean to you? What would you do without music?

Jazz is an art form that depends on its antecedents. There must be respect for the people that have gone before.

I grew up with the piano. I learned its language as I learned to speak.

I am attracted to Jazz music for the idea of being in the moment and communicating to people spontaneously.

Of course, there are a lot of ways you can treat the blues, but it will still be the blues.

People will always need love, romance, a tender touch and really personal and deeply felt music.

While many attempts have been made to define Jazz, what’s the point really. Jazz is to be experienced – period.

In Europe they look upon jazz as art. In America it’s a diversion. Somebody opens a restaurant and installs another band off to the side. People don’t listen.

I think the one thing that I’ve learned is that you cannot predict what’s going to happen. You can’t sit back and try to figure out what people want or leave it up to them to decide. When we all started in this business we would dictate to the audience what was great and they picked up on that based on the fact that we believed that it was great. But that’s all changed. What’s happened in the last ten years or so because is that the technology now means that everyone with a computer can make music and I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not.

I don’t do something because I think it will sell 30 million albums. I couldn’t care less. If it sells one, it sells one.

I want the music to connect to people; reach people every time I perform.

Jazz has such great feeling and emotional content it really doesn’t require technical understanding.

They’re not particular whether you’re playing a flat 5th or a ruptured 129th as long as they can dance.