I want to figure out how I can make the most important statement with the least amount of information, so I don't run out of ideas by the time I get to my second or third chorus.

People ask me to describe how I play, and the most obvious answer is that I'm a jazz influenced guitar player. But I'm not a jazz guitar player. Wes Montgomery was a jazz guitarist, Joe Pass was a jazz guitarist (laughs).

There are any number of players with extensive jazz backgrounds who haven't been able to fit into other styles, It all boils down to taste, to playing what's appropriate for the context in which you're working.

My first love in music was jazz, but I like it all, I reacted emotionally to Art Blakey and, of course, to Joe Pass and Wes Montgomery. I was all of 16 when I had my first guitar lesson with Joe. But I never focused on being a bebop player. I loved the harmony, rhythm and phrasing, but I wanted to apply them to my own concept and sound.