The first time I tried to sing along with my guitar, everybody in the studio booed. They all said it wouldn't work.

I spent a lot of time teaching myself theory and harmony so I could be free to express myself on the instrument.

The greatest guitar player in the world today for me is Paco de Lucia, who is actually Spanish.

No matter what they take from me, they can't take away my dignity.

People who love jazz musicians love us when we play what we want to play and we're starving. But as soon as you commercialize your sound like Wes Montgomery did, the jazz fans and the critics are down on you!

I like Simon Cowell - look at how many great artists have come out of the U.K. because of him.

My whole career from the early 70s on has been mind-blowing. I didn't imagine in my life that I would ever be considered a guitar player first of all because I started off as a singer.