i was reading Princes interview from 2015 and he said:“Well, I don’t think people learn technique any more. There are no great jazz-fusion bands. I grew up seeing Weather Report, and I don’t see anything remotely like that now. There’s nothing to copy from, because you can’t go and see a band like Weather Report. Al di Meola, the guitar player, he’d just stand in the centre of the stage, soloing, until everyone gives him a standing ovation. Those were the memories that I grew up with and that made me want to play.”

Did Prince thought about Return to Forever because Al didnt play in Weather Report?

was Prince a fan of Al Dimiola?

thebanishedone said:

i was reading Princes interview from 2015 and he said:“Well, I don’t think people learn technique any more. There are no great jazz-fusion bands. I grew up seeing Weather Report, and I don’t see anything remotely like that now. There’s nothing to copy from, because you can’t go and see a band like Weather Report. Al di Meola, the guitar player, he’d just stand in the centre of the stage, soloing, until everyone gives him a standing ovation. Those were the memories that I grew up with and that made me want to play.”

Did Prince thought about Return to Forever because Al didnt play in Weather Report?

was Prince a fan of Al Dimiola?

I am not familiar with this interview. It is very possible the journalist was not familiar with Weather Report and Return to Forever, and since they were not allowed to tape record or take notes, they misquoted him.

... and equally possible that he simply mentioned Weather Report as an example of great jazz fusion and then mentioned Al Di Meola as another example. Nowhere in the quote, even if were to take it word-for-word, does Prince state that Al Di Meola played in Weather Report.

daniorU said:

I remember this interview. I think Prince was speaking about Wheater Report and Al di Meola as a solo act.Two separate concepts. If I'm not wrong I read that he was a fan of the "Land of the Midnighit Sun" from 1976 by Al.

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Yes.
And 'Land of the Midnight Sun' features Mouzon and Pastorius too, btw. I'm sure he knew and appreciated both Weather Report and Return To Forever.

Quite frankly you cannot be a musician and not appreciate those guys.

[Edited 3/25/17 8:14am]

To each his own, I guess.

[Edited 3/25/17 9:13am]

i get what prince is saying but i'm sure he knew that there are talented musicians of all levels today, no, they don't get any push in the pop field but they exist, believe me, they exist, in fact there is a glut of superb talent. talent means nothing in the music business, that part is true.

PeteSilas said:

i get what prince is saying but i'm sure he knew that there are talented musicians of all levels today, no, they don't get any push in the pop field but they exist, believe me, they exist, in fact there is a glut of superb talent. talent means nothing in the music business, that part is true.

.
I guess that was exactly his point. That "you don't get to see those kind of bands anymore" because the industry is not getting behind real talent the way they used to, they are not investing in developing real bands – instead they are pushing instant crap like Ed Sheeran. (And Sheeran fans, please don't bother arguing, I won't waste any more breath on him.)

KaresB said:

That comes off a little bit kinda like, "You can't play the blues unless you're black".

But I do get where you're coming from though. I alluded to a similar sentiment about Steely Dan in my very first thread on this site…

phatphuk said:

KaresB said:
…Quite frankly you cannot be a musician and not appreciate those guys…

That comes off a little bit kinda like, "You can't play the blues unless you're black".

But I do get where you're coming from though. I alluded to a similar se...is site…

.
No, I didn't (and wouldn't) say "you cannot appreciate Weather Report unless you're a musician" (EVEN THOUGH IT HELPS.) I said there's no way someone who studies music on a higher level wouldn't recognise the greatness of those guys. It's quite different.

(on a side note: I don't mean to offend but these graphic backgrounds and 'stickers' are quite annoying.)

Quite frankly you cannot be a musician and not tolerate other peoples' artistic expression in the form of beautiful visual imagery ;د)

KaresB said:

PeteSilas said:

i get what prince is saying but i'm sure he knew that there are talented musicians of all levels today, no, they don't get any push in the pop field but they exist, believe me, they exist, in fact there is a glut of superb talent. talent means nothing in the music business, that part is true.

.
I guess that was exactly his point. That "you don't get to see those kind of bands anymore" because the industry is not getting behind real talent the way they used to, they are not investing in developing real bands – instead they are pushing instant crap like Ed Sheeran. (And Sheeran fans, please don't bother arguing, I won't waste any more breath on him.)

How can this possibly be his point if his very first sentence clearly references to todays musicianship?

“Well, I don’t think people learn technique any more."

That´s not a reference to the industry. He criticizes the new generation for choosing the easy route (=technology) instead of practizing their asses off, like his generation did/had to. Just in the vein of his ´real music by real musicians´.

[Edited 3/26/17 13:49pm]

TheW00denLeg said:

KaresB said:

.
I guess that was exactly his point. That "you don't get to see those kind of bands anymore" because the industry is not getting behind real talent the way they used to, they are not investing in developing real bands – instead they are pushing instant crap like Ed Sheeran. (And Sheeran fans, please don't bother arguing, I won't waste any more breath on him.)

How can this possibly be his point if his very first sentence clearly references to todays musicianship?

“Well, I don’t think people learn technique any more."

That´s not a reference to the industry. He criticizes the new generation for choosing the easy route (=technology) instead of practizing their asses off, like his generation did/had to. Just in the vein of his ´real music by real musicians´.

[Edited 3/26/17 13:49pm]

i'm sure he knew that wasn't true, the he cruised utube seeking hot young musicians and he found them that way, they were damned good. If he were being honest, he'd say that things were always the way they are, somewhat, it depends on what era you're lookiing at and it depends on what abilities you are judging but more or less, things were packaged and there were always the no talents getting the prepackaged help from a company.

PeteSilas said:

TheW00denLeg said:

How can this possibly be his point if his very first sentence clearly references to todays musicianship?

“Well, I don’t think people learn technique any more."

That´s not a reference to the industry. He criticizes the new generation for choosing the easy route (=technology) instead of practizing their asses off, like his generation did/had to. Just in the vein of his ´real music by real musicians´.

[Edited 3/26/17 13:49pm]

i'm sure he knew that wasn't true, the he cruised utube seeking hot young musicians and he found them that way, they were damned good. If he were being honest, he'd say that things were always the way they are, somewhat, it depends on what era you're lookiing at and it depends on what abilities you are judging but more or less, things were packaged and there were always the no talents getting the prepackaged help from a company.

Ok. I on the other hand am sure he knew what he was saying and he knew what he was talking about. Esp. since he carried this "real music..." stuff around since when? Pre Musicology? Besides that I hope we agree being a "hot new musician" playing song fragments on youtube is not entirely the same as building up one of the best bands (in terms of their musicianship/artistry) this planet has seen. That´s not a diss at all - I totally agree with you on the era thing. Todays musicians/artists have to search for new ways to get around. But to me that was clearly not was he was talking about (in this case).

One thing i doubt prince had, and that was a grassroots perspective, I do and have for many years. I can tell you for better or worse, phenomenal musicians are a dime a dozen because so many people are doing it. In Seattle, i see tons of talent, tons. It's obvious why the companies can and do fuck artists, they don't need them, there a billion more just like them. I've seen everything a company could possibly want, girls as beautiful as anyone with talent, the companies don't care, they'll push someone beautiful with no ability and fix everything in the mix. In the fifties we had the forefathers of rock but we also had a lot of one hit wonders with varying levels of talent. In the sixties, the early sixties are often known as a real dead period for rock and roll, the companies began to package teen idols while the true rockers were being destroyed by the system or by society. I recently watched a docu on The Wrecking Crew, an extended group of super session musicians who played behind lots of people, the monkees, the mamas and the papas, the beach boys so it was an interesting mix of marginal talents backed by truly phenomenal instrumentalists. The 70's changed a lot of that when bands came with their own musicians/songs/performers. Even the 80's, which i consider myself blessed to have grown up in because i'm a musician and I had Prince, Michael and Bruce, I couldn't have done much better in any era but even there we had plenty of utter crap. I agree with prince that at the top, the business is pretty far gone but it isn't a lack of talent, it's just the way the business is run, and there are still bright spots, Bruno Mars is a phenomenal talent with great reverence for the past.