You're not born with certain skills; you have to acquire them.

These musicians, such as these Cubans in Havana, are a part of a scene that did produce great music and great musicians. They came from this tradition, so it's a good place to look. It's like prospecting: You gotta know where to look.

Musicians are not so concerned with language.

Bad music can make you weak.

I have to think that somewhere on some little island in the Pacific, there's someone's who's great, but I'm probably never going to hear him.

Most folks, when they see movies or hear records, need something that they find pulls them in, draws them in, and appeals to them beyond just the notes. For a record to be memorable and great, it has to have something of this quality. Exactly what that is, I don't know, but I think it has something to do with an atmosphere, an environment that is appealing and attractive. And the people that inhabit this environment have... almost a message for the rest of the world.

In oddball places, the electric guitar has been taken as an almost alien object - this weird, six-stringed instrument that fell down to earth and was then played loud but with traditional grace and intelligence