Seeing one of my all time faves tonight....PAT METHENY

bradlake

Axe-Master
He's not a fractal artist (in fact , he recently outed himself as A Kemper user....) but he has given me massive amounts of pleasure since 1974, having discovered him at the very beginning of his
career as sideman for Gary Burton...and few artists have successfully delved into so many musical forms (most, admittedly, under the "jazz" moniker) while maintaining stylistic integrity and evolution. Among the highlights Of his live performances I have seen---as a sideman with Jaco Pastorius and tom scott among the luminaries in Joni Mitchell's shadow and light tour, playing hard space-bop with Ornette Coleman and Charlie Haden at the legendary chicago Jazz showcase, and a late-80's performance at the
RAvinia Festival in north suburban Chicago ( where I'm seeing him tonight) with his large (believe it was an 8 or nine piece with lotsa Brazilians ) Pat Metheny Group , that , swear to Jah, levitated the entire audience on a bed of musical ecstatic behavior. He has always been brave in his choices, that have not always been well received (his first Orchestrion tour was an exercise in not swinging), and he put out an album in the early 90s that was nothing but very dissonant feedback(as a fuck-you farewell to his former record label) ..called zero tolerance for silence. I bought it , and when I subsequently met his longtime collaborator Lyle Mays on the subway in Manhattan, showed him my purchase , and he laughed out loud at me. Anyway, looking forward to the show.
 


To me, the pinnacle of inspirational live performance...my previously mentioned ravinia had this moment with a very similar response...one of the most amazing audience participation ever recorded (you'll have to listen to it all to get to it.....
 
Saw him back in the 70's at a college gig in New Jersey. Pat has added richly to the vocabulary of guitar. He has only improved with age.
 
I've been a Metheny fan since the 70's. Incedible - and so is Lyle Mays. Pat's sense of melody and phrasing is his own distinctive voice.
 
It was the best performance I have seen Pat give in over a decade...He had been avoiding the more beloved songs in his repertoire until this tour , which had a bit of a greatest hits feel, and that was just fine with the crowd, which was lessened by the thunderstorms that soaked the lawn well into the show..but under the pavilion, the weather was fine, and his three fellow players (drummer Antonio Sanchez being the only holdover from his last band) were tight and right....Rig note...as I inferred in the OP, Pat is now running all his guitars thru a...............
Kemper...it made him sound just like he always did..which is a good thing.
 
Pat can even make a toaster sound good. The magic is in his hands.
Yes ...he even wrote an essay on his web site that he , himself , doubted his ability to play out without his (then huge) rig...until he was forced to participate in a jam with unfamiliar gear and glory be , he sounded like himself...now , he claims, he'll play on anything..but he does wax very effusive about his new (not a toaster)
Kemper rack on their website......
 
Back
Top Bottom