Jim Root Quotes

When I'm performing music, it's like I'm doing a big improv.

A lot of people probably get the idea that I'm this extremely calculated kind of guy, and in a lot of ways, I am. But when it comes to music or artistic expression, I'm very uncalculated and do things very spontaneous. If I didn't do that, I wouldn't want to do this anymore. I can't just play the same thing over and over; it would drive me crazy.

The wonderful thing about Jazz is its willingness to take chances.

The apparatus has to serve our improbability and improvisation. Being good and playing the songs is not enough.

Don't play what's there, play what's not there.

What I always try to do is to respond to the song; I've always rebelled against theory.

When I play a solo I'm just expressing that moment. It can go horribly wrong easily enough.

I've always done very 'composed' music and worked-out solos. But sometimes it's fun not knowing where you're going.

What I want to happen is to be really creative, and to play something new in the improvisations, every time.

I wouldn't be interested in just doing a show that's mapped out and choreographed with a set list. That would've been boring so long ago it just wouldn't be any fun.

I think people have learned that Herbie Hancock can be defined as someone that you won't be able to figure out what he's going to do next. The sky is the limit as far as I'm concerned.

Musicians tend to get bored playing the same thing over and over, so I think it's natural to experiment.

The rule is to try and never play the same thing twice when you have the freedom to do that in the song.

The musicians in the band, and myself as a performer, love the risks of the unpredictable and the feeling of jumping off cliffs musically.

In the past, we never really had that kind of spontaneity on record. When you start touring, you play songs in a certain way and then I start to feel like it's tough to really get lost in my playing.

I'm not afraid to have a really weird idea or, you know, take a really bad guitar solo.

Creativity doesn't follow titles. It just comes from where it comes from.

At every concert I leave a lot to the moment. I must have the unexpected, the unforeseen. I want to risk, to dare. I want to be surprised by what comes out. I want to enjoy it more than the audience. That way the music can bloom anew. It's like making love. The act is always the same, but each time it's different.

Jazz is restless. It won't stay put & it never will.

When I do a take, I very often try things that I haven't planned to try to see if I can pull it off.

I have this theory that your first film is always your best film in some way. I always try to get back to that moment when you're not relying on things you've done before.

I like people that can strap on a guitar and don't sweat the fact that you have to come up with a song in an hour. I want to work with someone who won't feel like they have to play along with Jason Molina. I want them to just have the confidence.

Usually I like to improvise. Sometimes, depending on the nature of the piece, I like to improvise because I think it brings certain freshness and a reality to it, as long as it doesn't go too far out of the box.

Improvising is wonderful. But, the thing is that you cannot improvise unless you know exactly what you're doing. That's a kind of paradoxical thing about improvising.

With Zeppelin, I tried to play something different every night in my solos. I'd play for 20 minutes but the longest ever was 30 minutes. It's a long time, but whenI was playing it seemed to fly by.