THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 27, 1995 TAG: 9501250115
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ERIC FEBER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 108 lines
Pat Metheny wants to get current and modern on his newest tour.
The jazz guitarist/composer just released his newest recording, ``We Live Here.'' It's the first Pat Metheny Group recording in five years. To support the release, Metheny and company will undergo a grand U.S. tour, with coast-to-coast play dates.
The tour begins in Bethlehem, Pa., with its second stop in Norfolk for a Saturday Chrysler Hall concert.
During a recent phone interview from New York, the Grammy-winning musician said he was itching to hit the road with his group and anxious to perform new material along with his classics.
``You're one of our first gigs,'' the affable, erudite guitarist said. ``We'll do our new songs but we're probably going to play everything. It will be a long show, we have so much music to play.''
After spending the last several years in solo efforts and as a sideman with rising jazz lion Joshua Redman, among others, Metheny is ready to swing with his group, which will again include longtime bandmates keyboard player Lyle Mays, bassist Steve Rodby and drummer Paul Wertico. The group is rounded out with new members - singer David Blamires, percussionist Luis Conte and horn player/singer Mark Ledford.
``The group is my favorite context to play in,'' Metheny said. ``It is the only place I can always play all types of music that interests me without any stylistic limitations.''
And with this latest Geffen Records release, Metheny's patented jazz/pop/samba sound will be spiced with dance rhythms and subtle beat-oriented electronic samplings and tape loops, rhythms usually associated with current rap and hip-hop artists.
``Our main intention was to make a group record, with group harmonics and melodies,'' he said. ``We wanted to make a `current events' record filtered through our own group aesthetics. Musically we wanted to look at the world right now, to be up-to-date, modern. We're using grooves that have been used before. There was an immediacy to our writing. While recording we stayed in a zone worth exploring. We wanted to push the band in a slightly different direction.''
Although the recording still features those patented smooth Metheny/Mays melodies and Metheny's soaring sinewy guitar riffs, the rhythms stray from the group's familiar sambas and Brazilian beats.
``This is a real American record,'' Metheny explained. ``We're coming from an R & B point of view.''
And to those who accuse the group of jumping on a musical bandwagon and pandering to its audience with a flavor-of-the-month musical style, Metheny said, check out their past recordings.
``The samplings we offer on the record are nothing new to us,'' he said emphatically. ``We've been involved with this type of thing since the '70s. But this is the first record where we've dealt with strong back beats. This time we didn't bury the stuff in the mix. We wanted to find a new way of jazz grooving. This is just an ongoing musical research project.''
Many critics and fans see his career and discography as an ``ongoing musical research project'' with Metheny moving back and forth from freewheeling improvisations with the likes of such jazz luminaries as Dave Holland, Ornette Coleman, Charlie Haden and Jack DeJohnette to his group's more accessible melodies.
Although he concedes his musical output has run the gamut of jazz styles, Metheny doesn't see it as hopping from one musical genre to another.
``I don't buy the `two-career' thing,'' he said. ``I believe in an inclusive way of thinking about jazz. It is at the root of everything I do. We're fundamentally a be-bop thing but in a different context. I see my music as one entity.''
Before gearing up the group for the new tour and album, the bandleader was a sideman playing with young saxophone phenom Joshua Redman, son of the great Dewey Redman.
``I loved being a sideman,'' he said. ``It was great being part of the rhythm section. I love Josh and love playing with him. His solos tell a story, they have shape. They're not just riffs. And that kind of playing seems to be dying out.''
Metheny himself, known for his very melodic guitar stylizations, doesn't see his own work as mere instrumental grandstanding.
``I'm singing all the time I'm writing,'' he said. ``When I play I think I'm singing.''
With that in mind, Metheny cites jazz artists like Paul Bley, Stan Getz and Sonny Rollins as heroes. Although keenly interested in modern rock and a big fan of Nine Inch Nails, he still studies and listens such masters as John Coltrane, Miles Davis ``and the usual suspects.''
``I like music with a lot of spirit and a lot of passion played at a high intensity level,'' he said.
And he promises to deliver that to the Chrysler Hall stage Saturday night. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Graphic
NO STRANGER TO AREA
Over the years Pat Metheny has played in our area several times
but during a recent phone conversation he admitted to visiting us a
few months earlier this year.
The reason? To work with one of our own local superstars.
``I was there a few months ago to work with Bruce Hornsby at his
home studio,'' Metheny explained. ``We were working on a few tracks
for his new album. I had a wonderful time, Bruce is a favorite
musician of mine.''
PAT METHENY
When: 8 p.m. Saturday
Where: Chrysler Hall, Norfolk
Tickets: $20 and $22.50; to order, call 671-8100
KEYWORDS: PROFILE BIOGRAPHY JAZZ GUITAR by CNB