A guitar genius
by Snozz on 2024-11-27Algonquin Commons Theatre - NepeanRating: 5 out of 5Very inspirational, a wonderful talent! We had an excellent time!

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Jazz guitarist Pat Metheny is one of the most renowned artists of his generation. Across nearly 50 years, the endlessly creative Metheny has released 11 solo albums, 13 albums with his band The Pat Metheny Group, four live albums, and four compilation albums, and has won a whopping 20 Grammys. Specializing in contemporary jazz, Latin jazz, and jazz fusion, Metheny is the only person in history to win Grammys in 12 different categories.
Born in 1954 in Lee Falls, Missouri, Metheny (who is the younger brother of trumpeter Mike Metheny), began playing guitar at age 12. As a teenager, he taught at the University of Miami and Berklee College of Music and made his recording debut in 1974 with Paul Bley and Jaco Pastorius.
In the mid '70s, Metheny played in Gary Burton's group, where he met keyboardist Lyle Mays. The two ended up forming The Pat Metheny Group with bassist Mark Egan and drummer Dan Gottlieb. A risk-taking jazz player, Metheny's 1980 album 80/81 featured avant-garde tenor saxophonist Dewey Redman and 15-time-Grammy-winning jazz saxophonist/composer Michael Brecker. A few years later, Metheny formed a trio with Charlie Haden and Billy Higgins; and 1985 saw the release of Song X with his jazz hero Ornette Coleman. Around this time, Metheny also collaborated with Sonny Rollins, Herbie Hancock, Dave Holland, Roy Haynes, and Joshua Redman.
In the '90s, Metheny leaned into his experimental side even further with the noise-driven Zero Tolerance For Silence (1994). That same year, he also made his Blue Note Records debut with John Scofield on I Can See Your House From Here. The following year, Metheny and his band released We Live Here. Prolific as ever, Metheny released 1996's Quartet and his score for the film Passaggio Per Il Paradiso.
In 1997, Metheny and bassist Charlie Haden recorded an acoustic album as a duo called Beyond The Missouri Sky (Short Stories). Soon after, The Pat Metheny Group released the album Imaginary Day. In the late '90s, Metheny did a duet album with Jim Hall and scored Warner Bros.' A Map Of The World.
Moving into the 21st century, Metheny and his band released 2002's Speaking Of Now, 2003's acoustic solo album One Quiet Night, and got the group back together for 2005's Way Up. In 2006, Metheny and pianist Brad Mehldau released their joint album, Metheny Mehldau, and followed it up with 2008's Day Trip.
Into the 2010s, Metheny remained as prolific as ever, releasing 2010's Orchestrion, which, via the use of a MIDI-powered "robot" orchestra, Sound On Sound declared "an unparalleled technological feat." In 2011, Metheny released a solo acoustic album, What's It All About, featuring covers of contemporary pop performers such as Paul Simon and John Lennon, among others. What's It All About won a Grammy for Best New Age Album. In 2012, Metheny teamed up with saxophonist Chris Potter, drummer Antonio Sánchez, and bassist Ben Williams to release Unity Band, which won Best Jazz Instrumental album at the Grammys in 2013.
In spring 2013, Metheny reimagined works from John Zorn's Masada Book Two with Tap: Book of Angels Volume 20. All the while, his Unity Group continued touring and went back into the studio, releasing Kin in February 2014. The next year, Metheny paid tribute to the famed bassist Eberhard Weber, who suffered a stroke in 2007 and has not performed live since. Metheny shared the stage with saxophonist Jan Garbarek and vibraphonist Gary Burton, and the tribute, Hommage à Eberhard Weber, was released in September 2015.
In more recent years, Metheny has released 2016's Cuong Vu Trio Meets Pat Metheny (with trumpeter Cuong Vu) and toured the world for two years as a quartet with Sánchez, Malaysian/Australian bassist Linda May Han Oh, and pianist Gwilym Simcock. Their debut album, From This Place, was released in February 2020.
In 2020, Metheny left longtime label WEA/Nonesuch and joined BMG's Modern Recordings. His 2021 label debut, Road To The Sun, featured Metheny in the composer role; he wrote music for classical guitarist Jason Vieaux and the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet. Also in 2021, Metheny released Side-Eye NYC (V1.IV), which featured a rotating cast of younger musicians, including drummer Marcus Gilmore and keyboardist James Francies.
Encore
Encore 2
Acoustic Medley
Part I - Beyond the Missouri Sky
Part II - What it’s All About
Part III - Baritone Guitar
Part IV - New Album
Part V - Orchestrion
Encore
Encore 2
Very inspirational, a wonderful talent! We had an excellent time!
An incredible concert - It was amazing to see and hear a genius at work! He didn't disappoint and played parts of his well known songs and reinterpreted them beautifully. One of the best concerts I've seen.
2.5 hours of the pure artistic creativity, passion and personality of solo Pat Metheny. “Once in a lifetime” experience to see him solo and in a small venue.
This was not a concert. It was a one man Broadway show and experience. It was a very special and intimate show. Pat shared with everyone beautiful stories of the history of his music and gave us insights into his creative genius. Like a mad scientist he had some pretty amazing instruments that he had created and engineered for our show. I am still in heaven right now reminiscing about that wonderful evening. Thank you Pat and Thank you Ticketmaster.
Joe Dyson—fabulous. To my ear, there were some unfortunate sound quality issues (bass distortion and piano tuning).
A very good concert, the guy continues to amaze! I would never say anything bad about Metheny. I did however prefer when he had a larger band with other instruments/players (eg. Unity Band) I realize he likes to try new things and I have no complaints with that.
Wowed with the performance of Pat and SideEye. Venue had very good acoustics from mid orchestra and audience was great as well. Talent and skill and the experience was worth it all. Highly recommended live aural performance… that can’t be replicated with recorded media. From then on we can appreciate his/their music more.
Easily one of the best concerts of my life. Pat is a genius and the evening was a humble display of his genius. Lots of love to Meridian Hall for the phenomenal acoustics. Shoutout to fellow fans who were all very appreciative of the music and the decorum of the place.
This is my 3rd time seeing Pat over the past 4-5 years. He and his musicians are incredibly talented and his shows are incredible. I will admit I was disappointed when I learned that Antonio Sanchez wasn’t traveling on this tour - because I think he’s the greatest drummer in the world right now. But wow, was I impressed with his replacement. Great show. Highly recommend it.
Metheny reinvented the traditional sound of jazz guitar, bringing a fresh sonic potential to the instrument while offering a deep reservoir of improvisational insight and musicality. Pat Metheny is a genius!
Pat Metheney and his musicians gave me one of the best concerts I have ever heard, showing so much sensitivity, humour, and deep joy in music-making. The evening had the intimacy and immediacy of a jam-session, and I feel privileged to have been in the room with them. But what is wrong with people that they can't sit in the performance hall for 100 minutes without getting up for a drink? Are we as a nation chronically dehydrated? And why does the management permit these people to return to their seats in the middle of a song? What happened to having to wait until a "suitable break in the program"? This behaviour is selfish, disrupting to other patrons, and disrespectful to the artists. Fortunately, Pat Metheney and his group are consummate professionals, and carried on as though they were alone in the room, ignoring the comings and goings.
It was more... then i was expected . Chic compositions , excellent performance , improvisation exceeded all expectations . Quality sound is above all praise.
The musicianship from Metheny and Sideye was brilliant as expected. However Metheny did not speak to the audience or attempt to make any connection. Left us cold. It will be our last Metheny concert.
The show was everything expected and more covering the recent Side Eye CD as well as many old favorites sometimes done acoustically by Pat and some with the group. There was also a very generous encore that included that gem Are you Going With Me. I really felt I got value for money unlike some of the other offerings out there. Drinks in the lobby were reasonably priced relative to the gouging that sometimes goes on at these types of events. It was ironic that the last time I saw Pat, was also at the Meridian that had some other name then, when he played the Way Up CD and we still had the incomparable and sadly missed Lyle Mays with us although strangely it was after the Way Up CD that Lyle left the group possibly tiring of the frenetic pace that Mr. Metheny is known for. It should come as no surprise then that Pat and company will be taking the Side Eye show to hundreds of venues around the world in the next few months in part to catch up on the Covid-19 imposed hiatus. Hopefully Pats band mates are up for the challenge.
From Pat Metheny’s first acoustic piece to the last encore, everything they played was solid, beautiful and exhilarating. And the audience responded like a sea of enthusiasm, the joy released in waves of applause.
Pat Metheny really knows how to deliver! From heartfelt melodies to raging riffs, he's got it all! And the band was excellent too.
I’m an old Pat Metheny fan. I’ve been with him and his live concerts for 25+ years. While it’s good to see live music with a new fresh trio…. And there certainly were some outstanding pieces…. I think the reliance of the keyboard player to perform also as the bass player…. Limited him from his full potential. It’s not a complaint…. Just a view…..guess I miss the days of the full band.
Not my favourite PM show, but right up there with the others. Such a talented man, I can’t believe tickets are so cheap. And as always, he is accompanied by equally gifted artists. Pat always puts out 150% for 2 solid hours. Thanks Pat, see you next time.
I first discovered Pat Metheny in 1978 at the age of 22. 44 years later I’m still amazed every time I listen to this genius. This trio was absolutely stunning in their musical skill, accompanied by Pat’s various electronic inventions that bring even more robustness to the sound. Metheny, like Dylan has never stopped writing and exploring new music. Albeit he is by far a much better live performer who allows his audience to actually recognize the tunes they know when he plays them live. It was a magical night. What amazes me is that so many people I talk to have never heard of Pat Metheny. He is a gem every music lover should have on their playlist.
How fortunate we are to have this brilliant musician visit Toronto on his world tour. Come back soon Pat. Toronto loves you!