Home » Member Page

Charles Carey

About Me

My Jazz Story

The best show I ever attended was...Pat Metheny at the James L. Knight Center in Ft. Lauderdale FL on Friday November 23, 1984. This was a birthday present from my parents who knew nothing about jazz to me, an obnoxious 14 year old who had just finished transcribing Al Dimeola's "Elegant Gypsy" and thought I was the s--t. My dad was given the tickets as a gift from a client of his who told him that Metheny was one of the best guitarists alive. I figured I might as well go since I had nothing better to do the day after Thanksgiving and there was no gig on my schedule that night. That concert showed me in a little over 2 hours everything that was correct in the musical world (and the world in General) and cemented the simple fact that I was a complete idiot for not listening to little bits of advice I had received from all my teachers before. Metheny's music demonstrates all of the most meaningful statements made by Hollywood icons such as Mr. Myogi (Karate Kid Teacher) -"Value the quality of what you learn, not the quantity", Yoda "Do or do not, there is no try" / Luke says "I Don't Believe it! , Yoda - "That is why you fail". Suddenly all I wanted to do was study and work at all the elements of my playing that I had neglected. I truly feel this concert is what made me a musician, educator, and all around better person. Thanks Pat - you are my musical Superhero! My advice to new listeners...Listen to everything and make notes as to why you like or don't like something as opposed to just saying "this sucks" and walking away. Often while deciding and analyzing what makes you like or not like a piece you may find you just didn't understand it at first and sometimes the opposite is true as well. Very little quality music of any genre is all that likable at first because it is asking you to do more than just be entertained it is asking you to really think about it. The same reason that most educated musicians hate pop music is the reason why it is popular, it requires no extra thought, or energy to understand it.