Jazz Articles about Pat Metheny

About Pat Metheny

Extended Analysis

Tap - John Zorn's Book of Angels | Vol. 20

by John Kelman
May 15, 2013

It's difficult to know what is most surprising about Tap: John Zorn's Book of Angels | Vol. 20. It's the first collaboration between guitarist Pat Metheny and saxophonist/composer/Tzadik label head John Zorn, two musicians who, at least on the surface, couldn't be more different. Of course, those who look beyond Metheny's more listener-friendly Pat Metheny Group to recordings like the searing Zero Tolerance for Silence (Geffen, 1994), his particularly stellar collaboration with saxophonist Ornette Coleman, Song X (Geffen, 1985, reissued ...

Album Review

Pat Metheny: The Orchestrion Project

Read "The Orchestrion Project" reviewed by AAJ Italy Staff

by AAJ Italy Staff
February 25, 2013

La lunga tournée mondiale conseguente alla pubblicazione del CD Orchestrion (oltre 100 concerti, comprese alcune tappe in Italia - clicca qui per leggere la recensione del concerto di Roma) che lo ha tenuto impegnato per la maggior parte del 2010 è stata per il chitarrista Pat Metheny un evento unico e irripetibile. La sfida (perchè essenzialmente di questo si è trattato) dell'affrontare ogni concerto in completa solitudine facendosi accompagnare non da una band ma da un enorme ammasso di strumenti ...

Album Review

Pat Metheny: The Orchestrion Project

Read "The Orchestrion Project" reviewed by John Kelman

by John Kelman
February 5, 2013

With The Orchestrion Project (Eagle Eye Media, 2012), Pat Metheny provided a detailed visual look into the workings of the guitarist's complex, custom-built conglomeration of instruments--triggered by pneumatics, solenoids and computer programs--that took this orchestral successor to the player piano (the first known version being the panharmonicon, in 1805) not just into a new century, but a new millennium. An in-depth All About Jazz review of the DVD/Blu-Ray/3D Blu-Ray release, covered the history of the project and the music performed ...

Film Review

Pat Metheny: The Orchestrion Project

by John Kelman
October 26, 2012

Pat Metheny The Orchestrion Project Eagle Eye Media 2012 When guitarist Pat Metheny released Orchestrion (Nonesuch) in 2010, it almost immediately became one of his most controversial recordings since Zero Tolerance for Silence (Warner Bros., 1992). Why, in a jazz world, where interaction with other musicians is so fundamental to its spirit, to its raison d'être, would one of the most important guitarists of his generation not only release an album that replaced live musicians ...

Live Review

Pat Metheny Unity Band: Denver, CO, September 7, 2012

by Geoff Anderson
September 28, 2012

Pat Metheny Unity BandBotanic GardensDenver, COSeptember 7, 2012Pat Metheny is restless. And we're all the richer for it. Over a career that is now pushing 40 years, Metheny has been a constant innovator, not only in the development of musical styles, but new sounds as well, going so far as to invent new musical instruments to help him push, and sometimes explode, sonic boundaries. Now on tour with his Unity Band, Metheny showcased many of ...

Live Review

Pat Metheny Unity Band: Kennett Square, PA, August 9, 2012

by Troy Collins
August 20, 2012

Pat Metheny Unity BandLongwood GardensKennett Square, PennsylvaniaAugust 9, 2012Over the past few years Longwood Gardens, a horticultural conservancy located in Southeastern Pennsylvania, has hosted a wide variety of international musical talent. Situated in a wooded area of Kennett Square, the conservancy offers multiple performance venues in a beautiful, bucolic setting conveniently located near Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York. Three days before his 58th birthday (August 12, 2012), Pat Metheny brought his critically acclaimed Unity Band ...

Catching Up With

Pat Metheny: Pulling It All Together

by Lawrence Peryer
August 20, 2012

As the 1970s came to a close, guitarist Pat Metheny was riding high on a wave of well-received albums, from his self-named Group and Trio and as a contributor to works by vibraphonist Gary Burton, bassist Jaco Pastorius and others. In 1980, he went somewhere else entirely and recorded what has come to be regarded as a landmark album, 80/81 (ECM, 1980). Featuring Metheny, tenor saxophonists Dewey Redman and Michael Brecker, bassist Charlie Haden, and drummer Jack DeJohnette, this double-album ...