Review: 16/17 – The Music of Pat Metheny

The Bristol Fringe, Wednesday 19 January

As a jazz guitarist Pat Metheny has been The Man since the mid-70s, when ECM records boss Manfred Eicher gave him his recording debut as the first of 11 releases on that prestige label. They parted company in ’85 but Metheny’s prolific rate of composition and recording continued unabated, with some 50 albums and 25 Grammys to date. This ambitious quintet project pulled together by bass player Will Harris and featuring guitarist Matt Hopkins aimed to pay enthusiastic tribute to the man with a selection of music mostly drawn from the early half of his career. A capacity audience in the Fringe’s back room was obviously very much in favour of the idea and from the rumba-inflected opener Phase Dance onwards it was clear that all concerned were going to have a lot of fun.

Metheny’s compositional style meant that the music was often quite controlled, held tight by strong melodic lines and unexpected structural changes, and the first three numbers (including Bacharach homage Every Summer Night and the lunch Always and Forever almost had the feel of lost show tunes, with Emily Wright’s wordless vocals a nicely judged hint at the missing lyrics. 

Indeed, with the inclusion of Kurt Elling’s words on Minuano 6/8 it was clear how much these numbers were songs, albeit wordless ones, and Will Harris’ arrangements respected the melodies throughout. This was eloquently effective on the filmic Last Train Home, with Hopkins using slide and wah pedal to catch Metheny’s synthesised elegy and leaving it to the ever-impassioned John Pearce to bring the house down with a lyrical violin solo.

That number closed the first set, leaving the audience on a high that carried through to a second half where each solo was exuberantly received and each number drew a roar of approval. Bright Size Life – a very early Metheny composition – had all the energy such a tricksy guitar part needed, with Dave Newton’s piano hustling the rhythm inconspicuously until he burst out with a Jarretty blinder of a solo, matched only by Harris’ own gymnastic bass. Drummer Mark Whitlam was similarly disciplined, crucially catching the Latinisms of numbers like It’s Just Talk and Song For Bilbao, both of which had echoes of Steely Dan’s funk, or providing a fluttering cymbal texture to Question and Answer, albeit as a prologue to a thunderous Roy Haynes solo to close the number.

Of course much hung on the guitar playing and if Matt Hopkins was sitting in the mid—stage shadows  his contribution was far from obscured., especially on the Soul/Gospel number Travels where a judiciously tinkly piano and distant violin gently fleshed out what was effectively an homage to classic Americana. Hopkins assurance and timing nailed it, thoroughly deserving the accolade ‘Beautiful!’ shouted from the audience at the end.

Given this was a debut performance of quite intricate material from a newly formed band the quality of music was astonishing (though fans of the players would probably not have been surprised at that). It was also clear that there’s an appetite for the music that would hopefully justify this project getting the chance to reach an even wider audience.