An Evening with Pat Metheny
w/ Antonio Sanchez, Linda Oh & Gwilym Simcock
Chicago Theatre
Fri 10/12/18

Pat Metheny and his accomplished band from the Chicago Theatre.
Have witnessed firsthand this current quartet of his a few times now. They don’t disappoint.
There are the melodious moments, especially at the very beginning of the show: Pat walks out and puts on his 42 string Pikasso acoustic guitar, which in a sense is a guitar custom built with strings, more strings, and some strings added to the strings. Although even Pat would tell you that “One song is enough” simply because the instrument takes forever to tune, and keep tuned, Especially with the way Pat uses his instrument- not necessarily all out aggressive, but still he hits the strings hard enough to take notice.
The Pikasso sounds like an acoustic guitar army- a symphony of acoustic strings for your enjoyment.
Scary looking guitar as well, strings running diagonally and whatnot.
If anyone could attempt to play this thing, it’s definitely Pat Metheny.
And then there’s Pat and his band: Antonio Sanchez on drums, Linda Oh on upright bass and electric bass, and Gwilym Simcock on acoustic piano.
When they hit the stage, off we go into free form contemporary jazz.
Expert musicians- this crew alongside Pat.
There was ferocious playing, and mellow playing throughout.
In Pat’s own words in regards to this current Fall North American Tour: He wants to continue “the research”. “The Usual process for me over the past few years has been the traditional scenario that flows like this: write some music, make a record, then do a tour. I wanted to break that pattern this time. And also, I have so much music from over the years (decades), that I almost never play. I thought it would be fun and interesting to put together a really select group of musicians who could cover the widest range of everything I have done previously and could also possibly develop into something beyond that with a lot of playing under our belts”.
There ya go. Couldn’t have said it better myself.
So again, I’ve seen this current quartet a few times now over the past couple of years.
Everything I just quoted from Pat Is true, at least to these ears.
The quartet is spot on, Pat’s playing still sounds crisp and improvisational, and the overall feel of the band is a delight to witness live and in person.
Let’s hope some new music comes out of this current touring presentation.
And word has it that Pat already has some new music in mind inspired by what he sees, and he’s open to everything.
All n’ all, a wonderful evening of spontaneous improvisation.
Cheers- Bobby Talamine – Music Photographer