There's more bad music in jazz than any other form. Maybe that's because the audience doesn't really know what's happening.
Pat MethenyTo me, there are lots of different stories to tell and you usually find the best way to tell the one you are telling once you are in it.
Pat MethenyI don't worry too much about the fundamentalist principles that are in almost any discussion about Jazz.
Pat MethenyLearning to play is mostly about learning to hear, and learning to really listen deeply to sound in a musical way is a lifetime's worth of work.
Pat MethenyAvant-garde, jazz, pop, classical, country and western, rock, free, straight-ahead, etc. are ultimately meaningless terms in the face of the music being discussed at best - at worst, those terms often serve as code words for what is in fact a cultural / political discussion more than a musical one.
Pat Metheny