Pat Metheny

A friend of mine invited me out last night to see
The Pat Metheny Group at the Hummingbird Centre.

It was the second night of a tour in which they perform their latest CD "The Way Up", a 68-minute long continuous suite of complex and multi-layered instrumental music, highly sophisticated yet deeply accessible, rich in melody and meaning.

On stage, Metheny remarked that "The Way Up" is a challenge to perform live, even for him and his band (musicians among the world's very best). He also very graciously paid tribute to Toronto as a city that provides an uncommon level of support for the arts.

The performance was awe-inspiring on many levels—featuring dozens of guitars that were in constant use, handed on and off-stage in real time as the composition required, and numerous physics-defying solos from Pat Metheny, Lyle Mays and the rest of the band.

The concert had a quality of transcendence to it—a rising above of limitations and of definitions and labels. Many times during the show, I had the feeling that the group was falling up and into something larger than themselves—larger than any of us—while at the same time originating it. The sheer wonder and delight at that paradoxical achievement was reflected in Metheny’s expression of pure joy which he wore for most of the evening.

It was a privilege to witness.