Part 1 here
Appreciating Pat Metheny (Parts 2 and 3)
- In His Own Words
- Interview with Music Editor John E. Citrone
Appreciating Pat Metheny (Parts 2 and 3)
- In His Own Words
- Interview with Music Editor John E. Citrone
John E. Citrone, Arts & Entertainment Editor for Folio Weekly in Jacksonville, Florida, has followed Pat Metheny's career from the beginning in the 1970's.
AIM: Is there a story about Pat Metheny that you find especially revealing?
Citrone: Recently, there was a diatribe kind of letter circulating that Pat Metheny supposedly wrote about Kenny G's music - that it was long-winded, trite, and just for middle-class white people. The letter was brash and vulgar, a brutal analysis. Metheny came out with a denial, saying he didn't write it. And I really don't think he would write something like that.
AIM: I've seen the Kenny G letter reported as fact. In one place, it talks about Kenny G "spewing his ... jive, pseudo bluesy, out-of-tune, noodling, wimped-out ... playing all over one of the great [Louis Armstrong's] tracks."
Citrone: George Carlin and other celebrities have had the same problem. In his denial, Metheny said Kenny G's music has value to the people who listen to it. I was initially skeptical of the original Kenny G letter because it wasn't like Metheny to come out and blast somebody who makes his living from playing music.
AIM: On another subject, one commentator wrote in the last couple of years that "Metheny's soft lyricism has bored not only him but his faithful as well" and that Metheny "found his best tunes more than a decade ago." Is Metheny played out? Are his best licks behind him?
Citrone: His partnership with [keyboardist] Lyle Mays might be tired. But as a composer and a musician, Metheny still has it. He hasn't lost any creativity or talent. He can still render his classic songs in a very listenable fashion.
AIM: But...?
Citrone: Way back when he was just starting, you could count on some serious experimentation. The experimentation has been toned down over the years. I respect the guy but I can't listen to his new stuff without getting bored.
AIM: You're not the first person to tell me that you're a fan of Metheny's early work. What was the high water mark for you?
Citrone: His collaboration with members of Joni Mitchell's band in the mid- to late-70's like bassist Jaco Pastorius and drummer Vinny Colaiuta. They were outcasts on the commercial market at the time. In the 50's and 60's, real jazz cats were doing their thing and it opened the door to commercial success for later artists like Chick Corea's 'Return to Forever' and the Mahavishnu Orchestra. And Pat Metheny. His best moments were on American Garage [1979] and Wichita Falls [1981]. He really blossomed then. His performance level has not suffered since that time but his ideas were at a high point then.
AIM: What is the significance of Pat Metheny's music? What will he be remembered for?
Citrone: Sonically, I believe he broke some boundaries. With Metheny, the guitar became more of a voice. This was groundbreaking and guitarists after him followed his lead. The legato phrasing, the smooth transitions. His phrasing is melodic as opposed to just riffing. He had a broader idea of what the guitar is capable of. Also, his approach to melody. Not that he did something completely out of the ordinary, but his music is very melodic, epic in some respects. Lyle Mays had a lot to do with that. The long instrumental passages, the dense orchestration. He worked off the head-solo-head tradition in jazz although he didn't break with it entirely.
AIM: New term for me. What's that?
Citrone: A jazz piece starts off with a recognizable melody or theme, followed by improvisation working from the theme, then the theme returns. Metheny plays with this. I'm thinking of one song in particular where the second section works into a complex new melody that modulates up [changes key] in the middle of the song. It's innovative and high energy. He allows greater melodic freedom for other instrumentalists.
AIM: Is there a story about Pat Metheny that you find especially revealing?
Citrone: Recently, there was a diatribe kind of letter circulating that Pat Metheny supposedly wrote about Kenny G's music - that it was long-winded, trite, and just for middle-class white people. The letter was brash and vulgar, a brutal analysis. Metheny came out with a denial, saying he didn't write it. And I really don't think he would write something like that.
AIM: I've seen the Kenny G letter reported as fact. In one place, it talks about Kenny G "spewing his ... jive, pseudo bluesy, out-of-tune, noodling, wimped-out ... playing all over one of the great [Louis Armstrong's] tracks."
Citrone: George Carlin and other celebrities have had the same problem. In his denial, Metheny said Kenny G's music has value to the people who listen to it. I was initially skeptical of the original Kenny G letter because it wasn't like Metheny to come out and blast somebody who makes his living from playing music.
AIM: On another subject, one commentator wrote in the last couple of years that "Metheny's soft lyricism has bored not only him but his faithful as well" and that Metheny "found his best tunes more than a decade ago." Is Metheny played out? Are his best licks behind him?
Citrone: His partnership with [keyboardist] Lyle Mays might be tired. But as a composer and a musician, Metheny still has it. He hasn't lost any creativity or talent. He can still render his classic songs in a very listenable fashion.
AIM: But...?
Citrone: Way back when he was just starting, you could count on some serious experimentation. The experimentation has been toned down over the years. I respect the guy but I can't listen to his new stuff without getting bored.
AIM: You're not the first person to tell me that you're a fan of Metheny's early work. What was the high water mark for you?
Citrone: His collaboration with members of Joni Mitchell's band in the mid- to late-70's like bassist Jaco Pastorius and drummer Vinny Colaiuta. They were outcasts on the commercial market at the time. In the 50's and 60's, real jazz cats were doing their thing and it opened the door to commercial success for later artists like Chick Corea's 'Return to Forever' and the Mahavishnu Orchestra. And Pat Metheny. His best moments were on American Garage [1979] and Wichita Falls [1981]. He really blossomed then. His performance level has not suffered since that time but his ideas were at a high point then.
AIM: What is the significance of Pat Metheny's music? What will he be remembered for?
Citrone: Sonically, I believe he broke some boundaries. With Metheny, the guitar became more of a voice. This was groundbreaking and guitarists after him followed his lead. The legato phrasing, the smooth transitions. His phrasing is melodic as opposed to just riffing. He had a broader idea of what the guitar is capable of. Also, his approach to melody. Not that he did something completely out of the ordinary, but his music is very melodic, epic in some respects. Lyle Mays had a lot to do with that. The long instrumental passages, the dense orchestration. He worked off the head-solo-head tradition in jazz although he didn't break with it entirely.
AIM: New term for me. What's that?
Citrone: A jazz piece starts off with a recognizable melody or theme, followed by improvisation working from the theme, then the theme returns. Metheny plays with this. I'm thinking of one song in particular where the second section works into a complex new melody that modulates up [changes key] in the middle of the song. It's innovative and high energy. He allows greater melodic freedom for other instrumentalists.
Pat Metheny - In His Own
Words
From his 1996 Commencement Speech at the Berklee College of Music:
"But I do think that when I was younger, there would be a day when I would sort of "get it", and that everything would be cool, and I would have arrived at that promised land of being a great musician and I would just be. And I can see now, that that is never going to happen."
From a 1999 Q&A on his website:
"i always wish i played better, but at a certain point all you can do is do your best and hope that it comes close to that ideal you have in your head."
From a 1999 Q&A on his website on the future of jazz:
"Jazz has always been the music of individuals. And it has always been easier for historians and critics after the fact to delineate "movements" and such. But I never really saw it like that. As long as every few years someone like Jaco Pastorius or Josh Redman or Brad Mehldau or Tony Williams or Gary Burton shows up, we're cool. And as long as experienced players like Joe Lovano or Kenny Barron continue to redefine themselves with such amazing results, we're cool. I see no sign of this stuff letting up."
Copyright AdventuresInMusic.biz 2003
All Rights Reserved
From his 1996 Commencement Speech at the Berklee College of Music:
"But I do think that when I was younger, there would be a day when I would sort of "get it", and that everything would be cool, and I would have arrived at that promised land of being a great musician and I would just be. And I can see now, that that is never going to happen."
From a 1999 Q&A on his website:
"i always wish i played better, but at a certain point all you can do is do your best and hope that it comes close to that ideal you have in your head."
From a 1999 Q&A on his website on the future of jazz:
"Jazz has always been the music of individuals. And it has always been easier for historians and critics after the fact to delineate "movements" and such. But I never really saw it like that. As long as every few years someone like Jaco Pastorius or Josh Redman or Brad Mehldau or Tony Williams or Gary Burton shows up, we're cool. And as long as experienced players like Joe Lovano or Kenny Barron continue to redefine themselves with such amazing results, we're cool. I see no sign of this stuff letting up."
Copyright AdventuresInMusic.biz 2003
All Rights Reserved