Concert Review by: Edward Kane
Venue: Disney Hall (Los Angeles, CA)
9/24/05 - Pat Metheny's concert at Disney Hall in Los Angeles was billed as featuring a trio performance with bassist Christian McBride and drummer Antonio Sanchez and a quartet that added the wonderful saxophonist David Sanchez. The longer than two-hour, intermission-less concert included those permutations as well as a solo performance by the guitarist to open the show and a duet between Metheny and David Sanchez. All of the segments were musically brilliant, though as a matter of taste I imagine each member of the audience found some more rewarding than others.
Pat Metheny's opening meditations on acoustic and baritone guitars were rich with musical ideas, and he made interesting use of the hall's acoustics to help create a raga-like drone and echo with which he experimented. Yet, for me, this was probably the least satisfying part of the performance. For some guitarists, the opportunity to hear them play unaccompanied results in a greater sense of intimacy. For Metheny, who can at times be a little too cerebral for my liking, I found his playing here tended a bit too much toward the esoteric.
As Antonio Sanchez and Christian McBride joined in seamlessly on the the third number, "May We Secretly Begin," the music immediately became more engaging. Metheny's playing on a hollow-body electric began to take shape as he ran through some brilliant flurries of single-notes and chords. McBride more than kept pace on a stand-up bass, while Anonio Sanchez adroitly utilized a drum kit individualized with some percussion pieces as well. The trio's material included a pretty new ballad known only as "#72," the bouncy Metheny favorite "James" and a truly psychedelic workout on "Question and Answer."
Metheny changed guitars frequently, sometimes mid-song. On a couple of occasions he played a guitar outfitted with a synthesizer, to mixed results. On the one hand, he uncovered some interesting sounds; on the other, during his most blistering runs with this particular instrument he reminded me of Chuck Berry's observation that when you "try to play (modern jazz) too darn fast" you "lose the beauty of the melody." There were moments on "Question and Answer" and later during the encore when I thought Metheny went over the top, though in his defense he did seem to drive the rest of the crowd wild at those exact points.
McBride and Antonio Sanchez were given a brief rest when David Sanchez joined a classical guitar-wielding Metheny on the bolero "Pra Dizer Adeus (To Say Goodbye)." I have never really thought of Pat Metheny as a balladeer, but he showed a beautiful lyric touch here as he had earlier on "#72." David Sanchez blew evocatively as well on tenor. The rhythm section returned for the balance of the set, which included two songs from Metheny's collaboration with Ornette Coleman, Song X, and a dedication to the ill Michael Brecker with the bluesy and driving "Timeline." David Sanchez played well on everything, though I felt that he was a little underutilized on the whole.
For an encore, McBride switched to electric bass for a rocked-out 12 bar blues on "Double Guatemala." How rock? Well, during the first time through the I-IV section, I actually thought they were covering a song by the Police. It occurred to me at the time that you would never hear something like this at Lincoln Center and that here was one more difference between Los Angeles and New York. Good for us, I thought, particularly as I heard the buzz from the admiring crowd leaving Disney Hall after the show.
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