Pat Metheny at the Blue Note

Guitarist Pat Metheny performed in a duo with bassist Larry Grenadier for six nights last week at New York's Blue Note. This club setting was a unique billing for Metheny who, as one of the world's most popular jazz artists, is known for his almost relentless touring (150 plus performances each year) of major concert halls. In his welcoming remarks to the Blue Note's patrons on Saturday evening he mentioned that this was his first club gig in over three decades!

The Blue Note  seats about 200 and, while it offers advance reservations (pretty much scooped up months ago), seating is on a first-come basis. I was advised to be in line by 9 pm for the 10:30 pm show on Saturday. Thanks to this great advice (and my wonderfully obliging wife), I was seated next to the small stage and just a few feet from Metheny's rig, nirvana for a guitar geek! In fact, I was able to reach over with my phone and take a photo of the set-list resting against the guitarist's floor monitor a few moments before the obligatory 'no recording or photos' policy was announced.

Given the venue and duo format, I was expecting Metheny to be using a basic jazz guitar setup, akin to that employed on his Trio 99-00 recording. But no, he had all of the technology necessary to produce his signature tone from the Pat Metheny Group days,  lots of chorus and delay. I am a guitarist and, like most of my musical brethren, have a certain fascination with the technology that is available for the instrument these days. Out of respect for the possible horn player reading this, I will simply state that Metheny used a pretty extensive and cool backline of gear. He sounded great!

The set opened with a series of vintage Metheny numbers ('James', 'Question and Answer') and some newer pieces such as 'Say the Brother's Name' from his collaboration with pianist Brad Mehldau. Obviously, this was Pat's show and his improvisational work was extended and stylistically wide-ranging. I've always loved his musical ideas, his phrasing and interesting chord work. What I was unprepared for was the level of his chops. This fellow can shred. Sitting in such close proximity, I saw for the first time what a physically aggressive player he is. He digs in hard with his pick and seems to have a pretty tight grip on the neck, often with his thumb around working the lower two strings. Yet, notwithstanding the facial grimaces and general appearance of tension and energy, his output was remarkably relaxed sounding and flowing.

I had never seen Larry Grenadier perform before. He's a superb, athletic player, very comfortable with the twists and turns of Metheny's soloing. However, I found him to be a little understated, probably due to the fact that I was seated inside the house sound system and about four feet from Metheny's main speaker box.

The surprise ending came in two stages. First, Metheny's guitar tech handed him the famous Pikasso guitar. This is a one-of-a-kind multi-neck, 42-string instrument built for Pat by famed Toronto luthier Linda Manzer. The instrument is impossible to describe, Google it if you are curious. I'm not certain whether the piece Metheny played had a title or was simply a modal improvisation. I enjoyed it but must confess that most of my attention was on trying to figure out how the multiple string sets on this remarkable instrument were arranged and tuned.

After the guitar tech retrieved the Pikasso, things got even more unconventional. Metheny donned a regular guitar and started a free-form improvisation of pick scrapes, muted chord blasts, etc. while employing a looping device to layer repeating percussive patterns from his playing. While this was going on, his tech reappeared and began to pull back draping to reveal an entire backstage of robotically-controlled instruments including various drums and cymbals, a glockenspiel, an accordion and several shelves of water-filled bottles of various sizes (a glass organ?).

This was a mini-version of Metheny's recent Orchestrion project. (The uninitiated can check out YouTube to get a sense of what this is all about.) Grenadier joined in while Metheny, still playing guitar, proceeded to dance over rows of footswitches to trigger the various robot instruments. Soon, the backstage was whirling, the bassist and guitarist were burning and things had built to massive multi-layered groove. Metheny then switched to his synth-guitar to cap things off with a 'screech flugelhorn' solo - a hallmark of his Pat Metheny Group work. By that point I was back in 1982 at Atlanta's Agora Ballroom, where I first heard the Pat Metheny Group perform during its Offramp tour.

This finale brought the house down. The patrons demanded an encore and Metheny returned to the stage alone to perform his most moving playing of the evening - a solo version of Lennon & McCartney's 'And I Love Her' on nylon string guitar.

If you are a fan with time and frequent flyer points, Metheny and Grenadier appear at Tokyo's Blue Note Jan. 20-28, 2012.

Bio:
Toronto native Jock Clark was raised and educated in Toronto where, during the 1970's, he studied guitar with Hank Monis, gigged locally and regularly attended George's Spaghetti House to worship at the alter of Ed Bickert. Currently, he is a retired lawyer living in New Jersey where he has resumed his studies of jazz and classical guitar. He is a life-long friend of David Basskin, host of 'Stolen Moments', heard Friday nights on JAZZ.FM91.