Metheny's Day

Like Bill Frisell It's tough to choose a Pat Metheny album of everything he has put out. Each album is unique and is got it's own character. Some of his albums have different people backing him and that to make it difficult to just point to one album. Artists who have played with him include Charlie Haden, Ornette Coleman, Dave Holland, Michael Brecker, Jack DeJohnette, Jaco Pastorious, Brad Mehldau, Lyle Mays, Paul Wertico Gary Burton and so many others that this list is could be endless.

His guitar style is like Bill Frisell also unique in when you hear him you know it's Pat Metheny. I have seen him in various band incarnations that it get's to be a blur. Every time I have seen him with a band he has some of the best people with him. I even saw him backing up musicians too and that part was fun, because he was not the main person on stage. I have seen him back Joshua Redman and Michael Brecker and Charlie Haden. It is a real treat to watch him play guitar.



He is loyal to his band and to his fans. There are probably about four albums that are not the best albums, but to his fans they are the most experimental. Some of his albums are full of energy and with the band backing him you feel like he has a twenty piece band behind him. The music he creates is awesome and his people who play percussion are amazing. This holds true on anything he does. When he tours with the group he at least has two other people to accompany his drummer. They are multi talented who will sing, and play guitar too.

Now it comes the time to pick one of his albums. Like Frisell, there are so many to choose from. I could go with the album that introduced me to him. That album was a classic called Secret Story. I could talk about his early years when I tried so hard to collect all his early albums and listen to the all in shock and amazement. Each album more compelling then the next. He had a small group, but sometimes he be just solo. It maybe had to be the fact he too was on ECM. ECM still an amazing label let him do what he wanted. ECM was famous for having a good group of guitar players on their roster. The likes of Bill Conners, Terje Rypdal, John Abercrombie, Ralph Towner, Bill Frisell, Egberto Gismonti, and Pat Metheny of course changed how we listened to guitar.



In the decision making process I decided to narrow it down to 2 albums from 1996 and 1997. Both albums are amazing in there retrospective way. The album from 1996 titled Quartet was exactly that. It was an album of four people playing all the instruments you hear on the album. The wonderful acoustics and wonderful production was second to none. Then the next year he signed to Warner Bros. He did not skip a beat with anything here. He used the same quartet and added six other great people backing him. It was a wonderful tour too. The album Imaginary Day was my favorite of that year. It still is one of my favorite Metheny albums.

What makes Imaginary Day one of my favorite albums is everything. The instrumentation is beautiful and even better this album makes you think you are on a great journey. It had a world fusion type feel which I like. Metheny is very expressive on most of these songs. They are wonderful and catchy and you feel the same feelings he has. He even plays a solo piece with his 42 string "Pikasso guitar." It's the instrument in the above picture. It is amazing to see him pull it out. It has a sound of a guitar and a harp all in one. It is a sight to see.



Even when I saw in 2000 he pulled it out and played it. The albums big kicker is the way the rock out and could give any hard rock band a run. The song "The Roots of Coincidence" is utterly a mix of hard edge rock and electronica. His 12 string guitar, plus Lyle Mays having one as well makes this album blast through your speakers. Be prepared to hit it just right and tell your friends to be careful. The climax is amazing. I suggest that if you hear that then you know Metheny is a god. The album is full of these gems and after 64 minutes you hear the true Pat Metheny and you want more. Enjoy this album, but be warned you might want to listen to it again and again. It's power is amazing and will want him to be seen live. I took my father back in 2000 to see him and he was amazed too. Pat Metheny had a trio and it was great. We had the best seats in the house for a 150 seat club and he blew my mind. I saw him three times at that same club and he made sure you did not see the same music twice.