Les Paul

I have younger friends who don’t work and they aren’t doing so well. My secret is to keep going, keep working.

Leo wanted me to be partners with him – for it to be the Fender guitar: the Les Paul Fender. When he approached me with the idea, he brought over a guitar and he gave it to me and I have it here. And I thought, if I’m gonna do this I’m going to go with the biggest company in the world: Gibson. Why should I fool around with some guy who is not a musician – I should go to the Gibson people.

Of the whole bunch of guys who play hollow body guitar, I think Herb Ellis has the most drive.

We go in there and we work on altering those ideas and in many cases go in different directions.

A guitar is something you can hold and love and it’s never going to bug you. But here’s the secret about the guitar – it’s defiant. It will never let you conquer it. The more you get involved with it, the more you realize how little you know.

I am very aware that so little has happened to the electric guitar from the time that it was conceived to now; where there are so little changes made where there should be drastic changes made. If we were to put our heads together and start thinking about modern technology we would be much more advantaged with the electric guitar than we are. I think that we’ve been stagnant for many years.

I think that it is important to try to sound like someone, especially early in your development.

Well, if you find a note tonight that sounds good, play the same damn note every night!

Jazz improvisation is an elusive genius.

The main thing is you want to emote.

It is great to have your own label; you can cultivate your own artists… I’ve worked with pretty much everyone I wanted to.

I always play what I feel. I always feel like me, but I’m a different me every day. I get ideas from everything. A big color, the sound of water and wind, or a flash of something cool. Playing is like life. Either you feel it or you don’t.

I heard someone say ‘What’s that kid doing here? Call your piano player and let’s get started.’

Whenever there’s a change with Jazz and its aesthetics, it’s almost always reflected with a change in the culture.

I was not prepared to play the role of singer in the camp of the warriors

My audience was my life. What I did and how I did it was all for my audience.

I regard singing pretty much like acting. Each song is like playing a different role. I get very involved with my material. I feel a responsibility for the emotion it brings out in the listener.

I think that what is important is that the music be honest and direct and that it is relevant to today.

Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don’t live it, it won’t come out of your horn. They teach you there’s a boundary line to music. But, man, there’s no boundary line to art.

The extreme dynamic and percussive possibilities of an acoustic guitar amplified through a bridge pickup have, over many years of performing, informed not only the way I play, but the way I write and sing too. My guitar taught me to sing in textures, from the roundest lingering harmonic to the sharpest snap of a pulled string. Being a percussion instrument as well as a melodic instrument, my guitar also teaches me about the relationship between rhythm and melody. Portable. Did I mention it also taught me about being portable?

Keep searching for that sound you hear in your head until it becomes a reality.