My proposal was that we listen together to a few pieces of music (not his) that affected him strongly. It could be any music: the point wasn’t desert-island endorsements or a strict autobiography of influence; it was to talk about how music works. I had defined «a few» as three, or even one long piece, like a whole record. But Mr. Metheny took the challenge seriously.
«For me to say I’m going to build a case that describes something, under the guise of, you know, three songs – it actually shuts me down a little bit,» he said, seeming pained. «The whole idea of style and genre is actually something I’ve willfully resisted from the very early stage. So if I pick this and then I pick that, it creates these two pillars. But I think I know what you’re looking for, which has nothing to do with what I’m talking about.» He began to warm up. «I don’t think too much about stuff like this, and it’s been kind of a musical psychoanalysis. Most musicians are occasionally asked to put together their 10 favorite albums, but you’re looking for the undercurrents to it all.»
«You’ve got it perfectly,» I said.