Pat Metheny's 36 Years
Pat Metheny
Episode:Doing Nothing
1980: Pat Metheny building vast music with a large band. 1996: Metheny appearing as a sideman on Michael Brecker's album. 2016: Metheny standing alone on stage. These three tracks show how different Metheny's guitar sounds depending on how many people are with him. Metheny among many, Metheny beside someone, Metheny alone.
The album title is literally the recording year. on tenor, Dewey Redman on tenor, Charlie Haden on bass, on drums. This piece begins with 's acoustic guitar. A folky, lyrical melody spreads out, and then Brecker's tenor enters and the landscape opens all at once. In this ensemble Metheny is "the one who makes the space." The guitar lays the foundation and two tenors run above it.
Sixteen years later. This time enters as a sideman on 's leader date. On 80/81 Metheny made the space and Brecker ran through it; here the situation is reversed. Brecker is at the center of the piece and Metheny plays guitar beside him. The same two people, but when their roles switch the power relationship in the sound changes. Metheny's guitar is more restrained than on his own albums — it sounds like it is leaning in toward Brecker's tenor.
Twenty more years later. stands almost alone on stage, switching between multiple guitars in a live recording. He also uses the Orchestrion — a self-built mechanical instrument system — so despite being alone, the layers of sound are thick. Separate from the interplay with Brecker on 80/81 and the supporting role on Tales from the Hudson: a stretch of time sustained only by Metheny's own guitar tone and compositional power.
