Pat Metheny Quotes

I grew up listening to Barney Kessel and Wes Montgomery, Kenny Burrell, guys with blues backgrounds.

I had always been a jazz fan - Django Reinhardt, Kenny Burrell, Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass, the early George Benson. And I come from the Hank Marvin melodic upbringing. So blues, I loved, but I also liked jazz. Therefore, my style was more lyrical.

My musical influences are from the '50s: Bill Evans, Miles Davis and Ahmad Jamal.

When I heard Charlie Parker, I knew that that was going to be the new wave, the new way to play jazz. From that point on, I was sold with... the idea of bebop.

If you really dissect hip-hop you will find a whole lot of Charles Mingus, Ron Carter, Ahmad Jamal, a lot of classic jazz samples in there.

I sounded like myself. People be saying I sound like Miles or Clifford Brown.

I grew up listening to John Coltrane and jazz, so they were subtle influences. I sometimes think about doing some kind of weird jazz record, but I don't know... It's on my list of things to do. I don't want to have to then go promote it.

Kenny G is not real jazz. I don't even think Wynton Marsalis is real jazz. I don't think Harry Connick Jr. is real jazz. If there is such a thing as real jazz, The Lounge Lizards is real jazz, Henry Threadgill is real jazz, Bill Frisell is real jazz, you know?

I like to listed to the adventurous guys - the Coltranes, Miles Davis, the guys who just let it loose.

After The Ventures I dug Johnny Smith quite a bit.

My dad was really into avant garde jazz: Archie Shepp, John Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders.

I really enjoy listening to players on the cusp of swing into bebop like Charlie Shavers, Clifford Brown and Clark Terry. They balance immense facility on their instrument with rhythm, melody, and more complex harmonies of the time.

Jazz scares me. I've witnessed so many incredible singers and jazz musicians. Pop and soul music have always been the things that I felt like I could do.

Joseph Zawinul and Toots Thielmans, in my opinion, are the only Europeans who can play rhythm-and-blues.

My playing started to develop through the Miles Davis stuff I was listening to.

Clare Fischer was a major influence on my harmonic concept. He and Bill Evans, and Ravel and Gil Evans, finally. You know, that's where it really came from. Almost all of the harmony that I play can be traced to one of those four people and whoever their influences were.

I think Wes Montgomery is the greatest jazz guitarist that ever lived.

Jazz was more of a tool for me to use to enhance my musicality.

I started off with the really funky stuff like Ramsey Lewis, Milt Jackson, Kenny Burrell.

I've played with all of the heavyweights in the modern jazz, progressive jazz movement. I've been fortunate enough to play with them, a who's who. All of those guys, I've been fortunate enough to have performed with.

Jazz music creates so many phenomenal figures.

In jazz, there is a lot of European influence harmonically.

The first jazz pianist I heard was Thelonious Monk. My father was listening to an album of his called 'Monk's Dream' almost every day from the time I was born.

I do find modern jazz quite tricky.

Coltrane would do what you'd get a Roland Pro Tools module to do but with a group of jazz musicians.