Final Note: Pat Metheny
AFTER FOUR YEARS OF TINKERING IN SECRECY, PAT METHENY IS KICKING 2020 OFF ON A HUGE NOTE WITH HIS AMBITIOUS 47TH ALBUM AND AN INTIMATE TOUR DOWN UNDER.
We have not a single doubt that before too long, the amount of albums in Pat Metheny’s catalogue will outnumber that of years he’s lived. From This Place marks #47 for the Missouri-native jazz icon, and the first of entirely new material since 2014’s Kin. And though it comes so far deep into Methany’s discography, the 65-year-old describes it as “one of the records I have been waiting to make my whole life,” citing a need to explore every other crevice of his creative mind before being able to unearth the inspiration behind it.
“It is a kind of musical culmination,” he noted, “Reflecting a wide range of expressions that have interested me over the years, scaled across a large canvas, presented in a way that offers the kind of opportunities for communication that can only be earned with a group of musicians who have spent hundreds of nights together on the bandstand.”
Right after the album hits shelves in February, Metheny – alongside a full band of similarly storied virtuosos – will make his long-awaited return to Australian stages. Surprisingly enough, it’ll be only his third trip in as many as 45 years (his last visits were in ’85 and ’14) – and, given the breadth of his catalogue, it’s entirely possible that what he plays on the tour will be completely different to what he has on those prior. Hell, he could play two hours of entirely unique material each night with plenty of leftovers!
On a rare day off for the 20-time Grammy winner, we cornered Methany for a chat about what he has instore for his latest Australian invasion.
What can punters expect when they sit down for “An Evening With Pat Metheny”?
I wanted to put together a group of musicians that could play well across the wide range of things I’ve done over the years. In a way, my whole approach to music has always been more about the ‘how’ than the ‘what’. I really feel that the best situations I can be in are when I’m in – and the best thing I can offer the musicians I choose to bring along with me on this or that part of the journey is – an environment that allows a certain personal authenticity in concert, with a distinctive musical identity. That identity is often informed by the tunes themselves.
What goes into scribbling up a setlist when you’ve got such a broad and diverse catalogue of work to draw from?
Playing is always fun for me. And there’s a fairly specific language at work in my playing, which is somewhat unique and maybe a fair amount more challenging to fully embody than it might appear. Having Antonio [Sanchez] on the bandstand with me, night after night in all the different settings we’ve played in together, allows us a certain code that we can draw from at will. Linda [May Han Oh] and Gwilym [Simcock] are both excellent musicians as well – they really soak everything up at an incredible pace. We can play across the spectrum of many of my things. I’ve also written some new music for this particular group of players. It’s a very exciting band, and I’m sure that even folks who might not be that familiar with my work would enjoy the program.
As a guitarist, what are some of the ideas and techniques that you enjoy exploring onstage?
I try to represent honestly, in sound, the things I love most about music. I’m not a huge fan of the whole idea of genre, or dividing things up into various styles of music as a way of thinking. To me, music is one big universal thing, and I always try to represent that. The musicians who I admire the most are the ones who have a deep reservoir of knowledge and insight – not just about music, but about life in general – and are able to illuminate the things that they love in sound. When it’s a musician who can do that on the spot, as an improviser – that is usually my favourite kind of player.
I feel like I’m a musician in this broad sense first. All the subsets of the way music often gets talked about, in terms of the words people use to describe music – it’s a cultural and political discussion that I’ve found I’m really not that interested in. I’m interested in the spirit and the sound of music itself. And as far as sound goes, I always try to let the music decide what direction I go in, in terms of orchestration. I’m pretty happy to play in a really dense way or a really sparse way, or really loud or really soft or all over the dynamic range, really inside the chords or outside the chords… It kind of doesn’t matter too much for me – I go for whatever seems to sound best for what is happening at that particular moment.
What can you tell us about your current rig?
I recently started using a Kemper system. It’s been kind of life changing – I can literally plug a thumb drive in and have my whole sound be right there.
Do you have a go-to guitar at the moment?
I have become interested in guitars over the past few years. I have been doing a lot of research into the earliest electric guitars – the Gibson ES150 and ES250 in particular.