Quotes by John McLaughlin

“Only in spontaneity can we be who we truly are.”

“At the risk of sounding hopelessly romantic, love is the key element. I really love to play with different musicians who come from different cultural backgrounds.”

“Interplay and interaction are the integral parts of music - theyre as important as the notes.”

“I find Indian music very funky. I mean its very soulful, with their own kind of blues. But its the only other school on the planet that develops improvisation to the high degree that you find in jazz music. So we have a lot of common ground.”

“I dont have any message in the music. Music will be fine as long as you take care of yourself.”

“You can have the greatest player in terms of mastering an instrument and you could be yawning your head off when you hear them. So, its not what you do, but the way youre doing it and in the end thats all that we have.”

“My whole life has been dedicated to music. And of course, Ive been accused a million times of playing too fast or too many notes, and Im sure justifiably sometimes. But, you know, Im the way I am and as we grow old, we learn and Im still learning about space. But Ill be learning about space until I die.”

“I have a great faith in every generations ability to come up with its own music.”

“The moment you start to talk about playing music, you destroy music. It cannot be talked about. It can only be played, enjoyed and listened to.”

“The mathematics of rhythm are universal. They dont belong to any particular culture.”

I dont want just attitude and loud opinion.

I like good humor.