20 éve történt (2000) – Pat Metheny
A 70-es évek közepétől követtem/követem figyelemmel Pat Metheny pályafutását. Valamennyi CD-je megvan a lemezgyűjteményemben, a „Bright Size Life”-tól (1976) az idén megjelent „From This Place”-ig.
1998. április 27-én találkoztam vele először a Rosenstein Étteremben, ott hívtam meg, hogy legyen 2000 tavaszán az általam szervezett Zoller Attila Jazz Gitár Tehetségkutató Verseny zsűrijének díszelnöke.
Aztán 2014. május 27-én is, amikor rábeszélésemre vállalta, hogy életében először nem Budapesten, hanem vidéken (Pécs) lépjen fel.
Amikor most elküldtem neki a 20 évvel ezelőtti Zoller versennyel kapcsolatos kérdéseimet, 4 óra múlva válaszolt: „Wow. 20 years went fast.”
A 20 évvel ezelőtti pontozásnál.
És az eredményhirdetés előtt.
Alább pedig a mostani interjú!
It happened exactly 20 years ago... Do you still remember anything?
Well, I think of Attila every day. He gave me one of his last AZ guitars - one that he played a lot. I use it all the time.
After the seven contestants had played the two tunes each, the jury withdrew to evaluate the productions. Do you still recall the circumstances? Which kid's performance did you like best and why?
Those kinds of things are very hard for me. I always am of two extremes. First of all, I am always amazed that people play so well. That in itself is always the main impression I have when I hear someone - the accomplishment of it all, the years of practice and dedication. But then, I am also aware that there was Bach, Wes, Miles, Bartok and on and on. That is the standard really - and for myself, that has always been the only standard that I have aspired to. So in a situation like a competition it is always challenging to measure. In the case of that particular competition it was especially hard because the players were stylistically worlds apart. It may as well have been a clarinet player vs a soccer player - it was kind of impossible to measure.
How did the Hungarian jury members relate to you?
Starting with Attila, every encounter I have had with Hungary and Hungarian people have been among my best memories in life. It is such a special place, filled with special people and great musicians. And I feel very lucky that I have been able to visit there somewhat regularly over so many years. I always look forward to any chance to go there.
