A CONVERSATION WITH LEO KOTTKE (continued)

PM: Any chosen religious or spiritual inclinations operating in your life?

LK: Well, not religious. People in crowds, I think, kind of head south. I like people one at a time.

PM: Yes.

LK: Which may be a little odd, considering I play for crowds. But there, well, it's a different thing.

But spiritually--I think that's what the guitar is for me. Especially after this much time, it's clearly what I’m supposed to be doing. I think it’d be dangerous for me to say one day, "Well, I think I'm going to have a vacation for a year." That's really looking for trouble--even saying it sounds scary to me. Playing music, it's good for you. And over time it makes you kind of grow up a little bit.

The guy that I always like to mention is Dizzy Gillespie, because he writes about that in his autobiography. He talks about what music is socially, and what you owe to other players, and what you owe to yourself if you're going to be doing it.

And then I met him in Italy one year. It was in Milan. It was real early in the morning, about 9:00 a.m. There was a band having a few drinks in the bar, and I thought, "Oh, I wonder who's here." I thought one of them might've been Bernard Purdie, but I haven't seen that many pictures of Purdie. And when I got out on the street, there was Dizzy Gillespie down about half a block, loading the drums into a station wagon.

PM: [laughs] Loading Purdie's drums!

LK: Yeah. And I'm not positive if it was Purdie, but whoever the drummer was that day, Dizzy was the roadie. Like, true to his school. And I just thought, "Wow..." But I didn't want to bother him, so I waved, and I said, "Hi Dizzy," and went back to sticking my guitars in my car. And he walked up and started talking to me. It was just fantastic. Dizzy Gillespie...

I asked him a couple things about his book. And he basically said that you've got to kind of shape up or you won't be able to play, and then you'll really lose something. I don't think you're as aware of that, or as respectful of it, if music is anything other than a spiritual experience. And you have to learn how to take your cat nap. We talked for a long time, I bet it was about 20 minutes, and a lot of it was about sleep.

PM: [laughs]

LK: Anyway, that's how guitar is for me. And boy, I couldn't ask for more. It's a privilege to play, and on top of that, they pay you for it. So it's pretty hard to beat.

PM: And it's a privilege to listen. It's also a privilege to speak with you today, you've been very kind with your time.

LK: Well, as I guess you've been told before, you're a departure from the usual kind of interview experience. I appreciate that a lot.

PM: My pleasure, Leo. And I look forward to many more great albums. Thank you so much.

LK: Thank you.

	listen to clips
	print interview (PDF)
	leokottke.com
	phish.com
	RainSong graphite guitars
	archives
	puremusic home