Pat Metheny wows Kingsbury crowd with one-man band

PAT METHENY, Kingsbury Hall, May 4

Grammy Award-winning jazz guitarist Pat Metheny took the one-man-band concept and multiplied it by 1,000.

The musical wizard brought his "Orchestrion" concept to the Kingsbury Hall stage and played his solo guitar. Instead of a live human band, he was backed by a wall of automated instruments.

There were bass drums, snares, cymbals (splash, crash and high hat), tambourines, wood blocks, shakers, xylophones, vibraphones, two pianos, triangles, a bass guitar, a classical guitar and shells.

All of these were triggered by an array of controls Metheny touched with his feet and his fingers while playing his guitar.

The night didn't begin with the big blast of orchestration, however.

Metheny stepped onto the stage and started the set with acoustic numbers that included "Unity Village," from his 1975 solo debut album "Bright Size Life," and the chiming "Sound of Water," which he played on his multi-stringed harp guitar.

After the acoustic set, Metheny unveiled the wall of sound and played four of the five works that comprise his new CD "Orchestrion."

The title track, "Entry Point," "Expansion" and "Spirit of the Air" were impeccable in timing and sound mix.

Metheny was able to control the length of the improvisational jams with a flick of his fingers or tap of his toes. He also interacted well with the machine-run instruments, but gave the audience the human quality in his playing.

The audience shifted its focus between Metheny's seemingly effortless — but always intricate — fret-board maneuvers and watching the automated instruments.

After the four songs ended, Metheny addressed the audience for the first time and explained a bit of the "Orchestrion" concept, which started from his fascination with player pianos.

He then played "Soul Search," which effectively concluded the "Orchestrion" suite.

In a type of lecture demonstration, Metheny created improvisational jazz symphonies in front of the awed audience by multi-tracking some chords and then adding layers from the rest of the instrument parts.

At one point, however, Metheny called out a fan who was videotaping the show and made it clear that he wasn't happy.

But that little incident didn't ruin the show, which ended fittingly with "Stranger in Town."

e-mail: scott@desnews.com