Once you’re in a particular country, and you’re surrounded by musicians who are so adept at traditional music, you suddenly realize how much there is to explore and digest and learn and experience.

Glennie is describing the humbling, expansive effect of immersion: encountering master practitioners of a local tradition makes the outsider’s prior knowledge feel partial and provisional. The quote frames travel and collaboration not as cultural “consumption” but as apprenticeship—an invitation to listen closely, absorb context, and recognize the depth of inherited musical languages. It also reflects Glennie’s broader ethos as a performer who learns through direct, embodied engagement with sound and people. The emphasis on “explore and digest and learn and experience” suggests that understanding traditional music requires time, presence, and respect for the community that sustains it.