Celebrating Pat Metheny: Part 2

My interview from 2017 and his recent releases

Pat Metheny: An Appreciation (Part Two)

We have finally posted the interview that I did with Pat Metheny when The Alternative Guitar Summit honored him at Le Poisson Rouge in 2017. This was an extraordinary night where ten guitarists performed his music. My segment included a string quartet and two guitars.

https://alternativeguitarsummit.com/

Here is the interview:

I would like to reflect for a moment on Pat’s contributions since 2017, especially of late. As I objectively see the world of improvised guitar, it seems to me there is Pat and there is everyone else. I don’t mean this as some sort of silly ranking, as if he were winning a poll. I say it because his output, even over the past few years, sets him apart from all the other players we love so much.

As we age it’s difficult to reinvent, to come with fresh ideas, orchestration, form. If we look at singer songwriters, those that established the genre in the 1960s and 1970s, we see Paul Simon standing out in this regard. I saw him perform last week, and I was reminded of his genius. Every few years, dating back to the mid 60s, he has come up with new ways to present his singular lyrics, orchestrating with African musicians, Indian musicians, Latin American musicians, classical, jazz, and everything in between. He’s also experimented with new song forms.

Pat is similar that way. I can’t think of anybody else who could present a solo recital such as he’s done in the recent past with Dream Box and Moon Dial. The first thing to say about these records is that they continue his winning streak with melody. If you listen to my interview, Pat emphasizes the primacy of melody in his work. He goes on to say that “melody can be anything, even a chair falling down the stairs!” But put in the right context a successful melody is something we can’t quite explain. It retains an essential mystery. Of course, many people feel this way, but what other improvising guitarist has written so many gorgeous, memorable tunes? Just as amazing to me is the way he uses melody when he solos. Many of us can play melody at slow or modest tempos. Pat plays melodically at every speed, even when he’s playing long lines. You can hear that impulse in everything he does, and it always adds up and feels deeply compositional.

So yes, the melodies on these new releases are lovely. But what is also exemplary is the orchestra of guitars he uses and his technique and execution in applying them, nylon, steel string baritone, 8 string , 42 string. And how beautifully they are recorded. Let’s take the baritone guitar, made by Linda Manzer. I happen to have recently played one of these guitars. Nicknamed “the cannon” by recording engineers, it is an awesome creation. The sound is huge, warm, and balanced. But here’s the thing- it’s really hard to play! It’s almost like trying to play a bass, given the string tension. In Pat’s hands it sounds effortless. As I was playing “the cannon” I decided to listen again to one of the pieces that he recorded on the instrument. As you may know, he uses some different tunings, in particular a version of the so-called Nashville tuning. Honestly, sometimes I just can’t figure out how the hell he came up with the chord progressions. They’re quite intricate, even when they present as somewhat simple. Here’s a new sound on a new instrument with new pieces that couldn’t possibly have been written by anybody else.

I went to YouTube to listen to the cut “The Waves Are Not the Ocean” on Dream Box, and the first comment was a daughter writing to her deceased father asking him to listen to this music in heaven. That’s pretty deep. It tells you that not only is this music impressive technically, it’s moving to non-musicians, to tens of thousands of average listeners. That’s unusual in the realm of jazz. That’s assuming you even call this Jazz. Pat has really created a sound all his own, which is an amalgam of so many things I am hard-pressed to label it in any way other than to say it’s Pat Metheny’s music. It’s kind of brave these days to make a quiet record. It’s a noisy world.

Here's another comment from youtube. My goal, in case I haven’t made it clear is to make music that does this to people! Not easy!

Pat, I visited my mother for two days while she was in the hospital… She loved the song "Travels", so I put it on shortly after she left us, and it was so comforting and serene.

And I’m not even mentioning the trio I saw a few years back, Side Eye. That had its own clear and present charms which I’ve written about before. For a superstar Pat is totally approachable and supportive of the greater music scene. I value this almost as much as the music. I have tickets to see the latest solo tour this Fall at Carnegie Hall.

And slightly less exalted than Carnegie Hall is my upcoming gig at Barbes in Brooklyn! Launching a new songwriting project.

June 28: 6-7:30 pm, 376 9th St, Brooklyn, https://www.barbesbrooklyn.com/events

Joel Harrison's Stardust Reunion Band, Joel Harrison (guitars and voice) Stephan Crump: bass, Pete McCann (guitar), Josh Dion: drums, voice

Plus special guest Everett Bradley: voice

Here are a few of my favorite Metheny selections of late.

The Waves Are Not the Ocean

Side Eye: It Starts When We Disappear:

From Moon Dial: You’re Everything