Pat Metheny

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

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

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

It is Jazz’s very nature to change, to develop and adapt to the circumstances of its environment.

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

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

By and large Jazz has always been like the kind of a man you wouldn’t want your daughter to associate with.

Creativity and artistic endeavors have a mission far beyond just making music for the sake of music.

Everyone is working who should be.

May your heart always be joyful. May your song always be sung.

I’m a musician at heart, I know I’m not really a singer. I couldn’t compete with real singers. But I sing because the public buys it.

I felt a responsibility to present a viable alternative to the popular electric sound.

Sometimes I wish I could walk up to my music for the first time, as if I had never heard it before.

I sing to the realists; people who accept it like it is.

A lot of singers think all they have to do is exercise their tonsils to get ahead. They refuse to look for new ideas and new outlets, so they fall by the wayside… I’m going to try to find out the new ideas before the others do.

That’s the beauty of music. They can’t take it from you.

For a long time I wasn’t listening to music, to the rock and roll stuff on the radio, because it would cause me to get sweaty–it would bring back memories I didn’t want to know about, or I would get that feeling that I’m not alive ’cause I’m not making it. And if it was good, I hated it ’cause I wasn’t doing it. And if it was bad, I was furious ’cause I could’ve done it better…

Composing makes me feel like I’ve finally gotten all the way up the ladder as a musician.

I wanna hear myself everywhere

Jazz is one of the best things that you can find in your life, it can always be your friend.

I never thought Jazz was meant to be a museum piece like other dead things once considered artistic.