“I don’t consider myself an artist. I go out there and I try to play what’s right for the music. It seems to be a much more open approach and it would seem to allow me to be able to expand as the music of the time expands. I think people who get hung up in their own artistry often get into a certain style they think is them and if they do anything different the public won’t be able to identify their artistry, which is kind of limiting. I don’t think that way. I have a good time playing. I try to play the best I can. I know I can play the drums and I want to play the best that I can possibly play. I want to play better a year from now than I’m playing now, not because my artistry is at stake, but just because I like it.”
Steve Gadd, in conversation with Julie Coryell (quoted in Coryell and Laura Friedman, Jazz-Rock Fusion: The People, The Music )