Creativity Quote by Eberhard Weber

There is a quiet defiance in Weber insisting that an album with his name on it should actually sound like him. In a music economy built on gig work, sideman culture, and tasteful self-effacement, “it’s my record” can read as arrogance. Weber preempts that judgment with a telling rhetorical move: “It’s not a selfish thought.” He’s not apologizing so much as translating a musician’s labor conditions into an ethics of authorship. If you spend “all year ’round for other people,” your own release isn’t vanity; it’s the rare moment when your aesthetic isn’t rented out by the hour.

The subtext is about power, not ego. Jazz and improvisational scenes celebrate collaboration, but they also blur responsibility: when everything is collective, nobody is accountable for the final shape. Weber draws a boundary without denying the collective craft. “Me with the creative help of other musicians” is a carefully balanced phrase. He claims the center while refusing the myth of the solitary genius, framing his collaborators as co-creators in service of a coherent vision rather than anonymous session labor.

Context matters here: Weber emerged from European jazz’s post-1960s push for a distinct voice, especially in circles where ECM-style production prized atmosphere, restraint, and a recognizable sonic identity. His line reads like a manifesto for that era: individuality achieved through ensemble intelligence. Not domination, not democracy-by-default, but authorship as responsibility for the sound’s final truth.