I have a great affection for Indian culture and music.
I've been more or less vegetarian for about 40 years. Health diet really helps. I do meditation every day, and either yoga or sport several times a week.
I find Indian music very funky. I mean it's very soulful, with their own kind of blues. But it's 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.
The Beatles, they brought a whole new dimension to pop music. Of course, the psychedelic period is much more interesting to me, starting with 'Rubber Soul' and on to the 'White Album.' Great, great records. I was such a Beatles fan. I was very sad when they broke up.
As far as favorite tunes, 'You Know You Know' is one, and why it is important is difficult to say. The rhythmic cycle is very interesting and challenging to play, since it can be considered three bars of 4/4 or four bars of 3/4. 'The Dance of Maya' is another, and I have to mention 'Sanctuary.'
Interplay and interaction are the integral parts of music - they're as important as the notes.
The mathematics of rhythm are universal. They don't belong to any particular culture.
The first LP, 'Inner Mounting Flame,' is, of course, one of my favorites, and also 'Visions of the Emerald Beyond.' But the others are also very dear to me.
When I was five, I heard the end of Beethoven's 'Ninth Symphony' with my mother, and I got goosebumps all over my body.
My entire life is dedicated to music, and at my age, that makes a lot of years! But all the work and dedication is only that I'm able to forget myself and let the music do the 'talking.'
I have a profound affection for Buddhism, and Zen Buddhism's particular ways of meditating.
Frankly speaking, if I care what people write, whether it is positive or negative, I believe, personally, I'm on the wrong path.
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.
I'm not a classical player. I don't want to be a classical player. I love to improvise, because things happen that never happen anywhere else.
Every day, I discover something utterly unbelievable when I play.
I was 11 years old, and I had been playing classical piano for three years, and suddenly the guitar came and landed in my arms. I fell in love with that instrument, and I still love it today. I love it so much.
I've been studying the cultures of Asia for many years, and I'm very attracted to the culture of Japan, in particular to the impact Zen has had on the Japanese mind and spirit.
When Mahavishnu came out in '71, the unbelievable reaction to the band was a real shock to me. It was a shock to everybody.
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.
I already experimented with free jazz in the 1960s and, in my opinion, to play free jazz, you have to be a perfect musician and a perfect human being - and none of us are!
