John Abercrombie Quotes

When I record an album I'm trying to get as close as possible to that perfect moment.

I've finally figured out how to make a Rodney Crowell record, and that's let it be, leave the mistakes.

I'm not really gonna stop. We've got so much stuff to do, so many songs we talked about, so many things to record.

I was trying to do the same thing that I always do which is make an interesting record.

When you produce an album, you're dealing with it theatrically. It has to have a structure, and the inner response to that is that the ear loves it.

I get very deep into the writing and recording process.

The whole thing with recording is you have to know when to turn off the tape machine and just stop recording because you want to keep fixing, fixing, fixing, you know?

I do a lot of editing and switching around and putting little pieces together to get the right mood and personality, and it takes me forever to get a song finished.

What I try to do is produce an atmosphere where musicians want to invest in what they do and give to the recording. I hire those musicians who I know will play something creative and interesting.

The more you write tunes, the better they will become. The more you do gigs, the better you will become.

I go in and sing the song and arrange it and mix it and that's it. It's no different than playing in clubs.

When working with an orchestra, you never spend more than 20 minutes per recording session.

For the most part, I like to record music as I write it.

When you're making a record, you try to achieve stylistically what fits on you. Like a good old coat, you know what I mean?

Some people really want to play Mozart and be just performers. I was more interested in invention.

Songs are not on a conveyor belt. I'm not chopping them up and putting them out.

Classical music requires an immense amount of concentration, and I don't know if I would've been that committed to that particular life.

When we first started playing we did a lot of rehearsing. We used to write out everything. In fact, that's the way everybody rehearses: we play the tunes and improvise.

I am just trying to do a song the best possible way I can.

Music is what I do pretty much all the time. I'm always in the studio. I'm always rehearsing for shows. Always doing shows.

My roots are in classical music and jazz, and I want the freedom of being able to improvise. This freedom is possible only in a live concert.

I'm always working on new music.

It takes so much energy and time to make one song perfect.

When you're producing, you're really just making a series of decisions.

It should take you 15 minutes to make a song, and then get out of there.