As you can tell, I have a little too much time on my hands to
think about this, but so be it.
Player's are remembered for being unique.
We still talk about Monk because he was a great composer
and didnt sound like anyone.
Pat Metheny does not sound like any other guitar player and
his knack for composition is remarkable (not to mention everything
else he does on guitar).
Someone here wrote that his solo on "Blues for Pat" on
the Joshua Redman album Wish was not as innovative as Vinnie
Barbarino or someone. Try listening to "We
Had A Sister" on the same recording and try to come up with any current
guitarist with that depth of composition and beauty.
You wont, because most guitarists, especially jazz ones, cant write
worth a wooden pickle. They are all concerned about "chops" and by the
way, people who seem to use that word never have any.
I did a recording session w/ Phillip Glass where one of the
string players told me that not many of the local classical
musicians would work w/ Glass because he wasnt enough like
blah blah blah. That's what I hear a lot of you saying here.
Mr. X is not blah blah blah... I had a very long conversation
with Dennis Chambers about this phenomenon today. The bottom line:
Let X=X.
P.S. you can tell the leader by the # of arrows in his ass.
-Mark
