Pat Metheny, Unity Band, in concert

[jostenmeat]

I totally forgot to share this last time I was posting here. Anyway, I saw them last week, and they kicked some seriously major butt. I've seen Metheny before mind you, at that time it was with percussion phenom Bill Stewart, but I actually preferred this concert, and it surpassed my expectations. Wow. If you're in TX, MS, PA, GA, MA, CT, or NY, you might want to check into the schedule.

Pat Metheny Tour Dates

IIRC, the concert was over 2 hours without any break at all. Metheny also did duos, one at a time with each member during the second half of the show, all in succession. There was also a tune where he was using recording loops of himself, with this cool light show obviously related to pitch, with a pair of cymbals in the back that were being remotely played by Metheny himself as well. I'm usually not a fan of this extended technique (namely recorded loops, forgive me if there is a more proper name), but I really freaking loved what Metheny did with it here.

I have their CD in my Amazon cart, just waiting until it fills up with $25 of stuff I really want before purchasing (for the free shipping).

 

[j_garcia]

PRIME, (most) everything ships free My buddy is a huge fan of Metheny, but for some reason I never really got into them.

 

[jostenmeat]

Yeah, I used to have Prime for maybe 4 yrs or so. I had to pay for mine, btw. I don't buy as much stuff as I used to either.

I've only heard a fraction of what Metheny has done, but this concert is easily my most preferred version of Pat Metheny I've ever heard. He opened with that crazy guitar with 4(?) sets of strings/bridges, that I'm pretty sure I saw with Stewart too back when, and also played semi electric, electric, acoustic, and nylon too (I wouldn't be surprised if that was SOP for him.) Usually I totally cringe whenever I hear a jazzman try his hand on a nylon string, but his sound is definitely the best I've heard from someone of the jazz world.

I should have mentioned that Chris Potter is headlining this concert as well, alongside Metheny, I'm not sure if you're familiar with him, but he is a top notch sax player, and he had at least the soprano, tenor, and bass clarinet going. If I had only heard him play one, and you told me he was a specialist on that particular instrument, I would believe it. Great on all throughout, and in tune even with the difficult soprano.

Apparently, Metheny hasn't played with a sax player in a few decades, the last time being with Brecker and Redman. (I had the great pleasure of seeing Brecker before his premature death by way of some blood disease, in a Coltrane tribute alongside some other famous cats, and that was the best jazz concert I've ever been to in my life.)

I'm not going to claim to have a great ear for pitch, but the bassist seemed to be pretty in tune to me as far as bassists go, for the times he did climb up in register. (Sometimes it's not so great with others, ya know.)

The drummer was great too. All four of them had a sound which I would call smooth. Not to be confused with Kenny G and smooth jazz by any means, of course.

At least the Amazon reviews of the recording seem to be highly favorable:
Amazon.com: Unity Band: Pat Metheny: Music