Twenty-four years. Here is the time passed over the world famous guitarist. pat metheny (Missouri, 1954) played for the last time in Vigo. Those who can hear it remember it as one of the best concerts in the city’s history. This Friday at 21:30, as part of the Xacobeo Importa Cycle, both those who enjoyed it at that time and those who could not watch it will watch it at the Mar de Vigo Auditorium.
You are one of the best guitarists in the world and at the same time you always feel like you are escaping the elitist areas playing with very different people. Is it complicated to get rid of so many prejudices?
It is difficult for me to gain a perspective outside of my own productions and my own ideas. I just try to do my best by creating music that I love. I don’t quote much from the music around me. I don’t worry too much, I just focus on my goal. I’ve always had the same thing since I was twelve: understand music and translate my ideas into it.
His discography and collaborations are tremendous. He even won a Goya. Is there anything left you can do on a musical level?
I am always grateful for any kind of recognition in the cultural world for my work. But that is not my main purpose. In fact, if you had seen the walls of my house, you would have seen that there were no prizes hanging: I hid them. Every day I try to start from scratch and give my best since I started this business. I am very grateful for everything that has come out and for the opportunity to do what I do, but my only goal is to achieve good musical results.
I read in your voice several times, the frames jazz they are small. Can you explain this to me?
What I don’t like is the pigeonhole in the genre tags. They talk about alternative, they talk about classical… There are so many types of music that I don’t even know what they are talking about for me. Its music! For me, music is something. I don’t understand labeling this way. It can’t be like a dress code. A B-circle for me is just that spot. It doesn’t matter who touches it. The language of music transcends these cultural boundaries.
Say what you think were turning points in your career, from your own point of view, not from the critics’ point of view.
There are two major turning points. The first was when I was fourteen when invitations started coming in from Kansas City, the largest city around me, to play with great musicians. I started playing with really good people there. This was the most important thing for me. The next would be when I was eighteen years old when I could join vibraphonist Gary Burton’s band as a guitarist in his quartet. They were my favorite musicians, it was like joining The Beatles (laughs). Gary and the rest of the band, especially bassist Steve Swallow, were incredibly important to me.
The guitar is closely related to music of Spanish origin. What kind of relationship did you have with national musicians?
I am aware that when I am in Spain, I am at the house of the guitar. It is closely connected with the history of this country. I feel very lucky to have a great friendship with very important names in flamenco. Of course, especially with Paco de Lucia. And with Vicente Amigo, one of my favorite and most cherished musicians lately. It’s funny because when I listen to them, I think we’re playing two completely different instruments. It’s true that they’re both six-stringed and made of wood, but beyond that, my relationship with the instrument is more of an interpretation of the ideas surrounding American improvisational music, I drank more of Parker’s ideas from Charlie in particular.
Let me ask you a few short questions. Which jazz musician would you like to play with who is no longer with us?
I’m so lucky to have played with all my heroes that it’s hard to absorb. But there are two great figures for me in the language of music. One would be Charlie Parker and the other would be John Coltrane. They managed to take the music to another level. I don’t have to play with them, but I would love to see them live.
And among those who shared the stage, which one did you enjoy the most?
Every musician has their own story and their own way of being, and I value all of them equally. It is impossible for me to choose one over the other.
Tell me a disc that marks you.
Miles Davis’ Quartet and More.
And the first song you learned to play?
It may sound strange to you, but it was Garota de Ipanema (laughs).