Pat Metheny, by far, is one of the most successful jazz musicians in the world. The guitarist has won 20 Grammy Awards in ten different categories since his 1976 debut Bright Size Life that featured Jaco Pastorious on bass and Bob Moses on drums. Metheny is renowned as a risk-taker performing in various collaborations and arrangements, all within the jazz idiom.
The 67-year old guitar legend has collaborated with musical greats that range from Bill Frisell, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, John Scofield, Joni Mitchell, Joshua Redman, Michael Brecker, Bruce Hornsby, James Taylor, David Bowie, and Cheap Trick. His phenomenal body of work includes compositions for solo guitar, small ensembles, electric and acoustic instruments, large orchestras, and ballet pieces.
The Pat Metheny Group has changed members over the years, as the band lost longtime collaborator and pianist Lyle Mays to illness in early 2020. “Side Eye” is his name for a new project which draws on a rotating cast of younger players and is the name of Metheny’s recent live album release that touches on all facets of the frizzy hair guitarists’ career.
This leg of the ‘Side-Eye Tour’ that visited Tucson’s Fox Theatre on October 5th has pianist/keyboardist, James Francies, who made an incredible impression with his 2018 SFJazz debut with José James’ Bill Withers project and as part Chris Potter’s Circuits Trio during the 2019 San Francisco Jazz Festival. On drums is the amazing Joe Dyson, heir to the legacy of New Orleans drummers and a collaborator with Donald Harrison, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Sullivan Fortner, Nicholas Payton, and Christian Scott.
The dynamics between the three musicians at the Fox was flawless as there were striking improvisational muses from Metheny, Francies, and Dyson that were spontaneously adventurous. Theatre’s acoustics added to the many pin-drop moments during the sold-out show. Metheny played solo impeccably on several custom-made Manzer guitars producing bass as well as the guitar notes, taking multi-tasking to a spirited new level.
This was a thrilling musical adventure that covered musical gems going back to his songbook of the eighties and nineties, i.e. “Turnaround,” and “Secret Story,” “Trigonometry,” and “Are You Going with Me?” along with newer selections including: “Message to a Friend,” “Over on First Street,” and “So Good So Far.”
What makes a Metheny show impression making is it’s all about the music: no fancy lighting or projections. The people were there for the music and that was what they got. It’s great that Metheny is giving the younger generations of musicians an opportunity to ‘make their mark.’ That is the purpose of ‘Side-Eye’ and it works incredibly well for all of the musicians involved and Metheny fans new and old.
One Response
“so good so far”?? “Secret story”?? Mmmmmh, somebody didn’t know much about Pat’s music and, never the less, wrote an article about it. Whoa, how low is the level of journalism today…