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| Pat Metheny |
It is a rare thing to find an individual musician who can move effortlessly from gentle acoustic playing to frenetic and 'challenging' jazz freak-outs.
Over his long career, Pat Metheny has explored many different musical landscapes and he manages to find a purity of expression in each of them.
His records and live performances are uniquely multi-cultural, absorbing influence from across the Americas. The sounds are reflective, sinuous, exuberant and sometimes jarring. Above all, in a live setting, it is just amazing to see musicianship at this level up-close.
Back in the mid-1980s, I saw Pat and members of the Pat Metheny Group (which then included keyboardist Lyle Mays, bassist Steve Rodby and drummer Paul Wertico) up-close at the Half Moon pub in Putney (London), playing jazz standards as a warm up for a UK tour. To this day, I don't think I've ever seen a virtuoso musician in that close proximity. His virtuosity is undeniable and if you’re close enough, just to watch his hands moving is mesmerising.
On Sunday I was lucky to be just a few rows from the front
(thanks Julia) at a matinee - “the breakfast show” as Pat called it - and we had the
luxury of being able to watch him work his incredible magic on a wide range of
guitars.
The concert was part of a summer jazz series at The Barbican
– 3 shows over the weekend.
His latest band, the Side-Eye III trio of Chris Fishman (keyboards) and Joe
Dyson (drums), augmented by Jermaine Paul (bass) and Leonard Patton (vocals and
percussion), are of quite a different generation to Metheny. The mutual respect
is clear, though, with Metheny demonstrably acknowledging each of his bandmates’
exceptional playing.
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| On stage at the Barbican. Photo by UK Jazz News |
Drummer Joe Dyson’s playing style harks back to that of long-time PMG drummer Paul Wertico,
with lots of fine cymbal work, but with a muscular energy when it comes to soloing.
Jermaine Paul is one of the most adept and musical upright bassists I have
heard in a long time. And Patton’s vocalising is in keeping with a long line of
latin-tinged singers from PMGs of the past.
Metheny's recorded work is often melodic and played with a distinctive style
that once heard is seldom forgotten. But he has also wandered off into more
challenging areas, taking influences from free jazzers like Ornette Coleman. On
many of his albums, he doesn't always play safe and has never been afraid to
push the boundaries.
In this latter part of his career, working with a new generation of players, he
has reached a point where he feels able to revisit some of his most popular
tunes in a live setting, while continuing to push at the boundaries of jazz and
world music exploration.
For his current audience, the mix of the new and familiar is
just about perfect. As well as material for the most recent Side-Eye III+
record, early on in his set we heard a new arrangement of Bright Size Life, and
a duet between guitar and keyboards on Phase Dance.
The stage emcee had told us that the previous night there were “many encores” and this afternoon, we were again treated to four – two with Metheny playing solo acoustic. On these, Pat played beautifully, creating a medley of his most beloved tunes, including Last Train Home, Minuano, James, September Fifteenth and his Bowie collaboration This Is Not America.
No filming allowed in the auditorium, so you won't find much on youtube. The link above to First Circle is worth a look and listen. And here's a clip of them playing the PMG classic Are you going with me? earlier this year in Rome.
Listening to Pat Metheny live always sends me back to the records. I have
several of his 1970s and 80s ECM albums on vinyl. My most favourite of the ECM era is the Pat Metheny/Lyle Mays album As
Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls. It features September
15th, their tribute to Bill Evans. It's an almost meditative album, full of
atmosphere and reflection, while also managing to be uplifting. Like so
much of Metheny’s music.
For a really in-depth understanding of Pat Metheny's musical genius, this interview that Rick Beato did with Pat in 2021 is essential viewing.
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