Pat Metheny Lots of Music & Lots of Musicians on a Variety of Stages!
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Press Release For immediate distribution The second part of the Invitation series: Pat Metheny Lots of music & lots of musicians on a variety of stages! Montreal, Tuesday, May 10, 2005 — The Festival International de Jazz de Montréal will be dedicating the second part of its Invitation series to master guitarist Pat Metheny who’ll be appearing in a variety of venues with a variety of equally brilliant musicians, somewhat like he did when he came to town for the 1988 Festival. For this 26th edition, Montreal’s honorary native son will deliver no fewer than 5 performances, with his regular companions Antonio Sanchez and Scott Colley, as well as a few with whom he’s rarely had the chance to perform, including David Sanchez, Enrico Rava, Me’shell Ndegeocello, Ron Blake and Chris Dave. You can also catch him performing A Quiet Night, Beyond the Missouri Sky, a brilliant work first presented here in 1997 which the two have agreed to re-create especially for the Festival. Pat will also join the Gary Burton Quartet with Steve Swallow and Antonio Sanchez, before ending the series in the Gesù theatre, first in duet with Mick Goodrick and then re-visiting ‘80/81’ with Dewey Redman, John Menegon and Matt Wilson. And that isn’t counting guest appearances (some by appointment, some by surprise) including a visit with Paolo Fresu at the Toots Thielemans concert on July 6 in the Théâtre Maisonneuve at Place des Arts. Get set for the visit we’ve been dreaming of all these years. Five Times Metheny Jazz Beat TD Canada Trust series, Tuesday, July 5, 9:30 p.m., at Spectrum PAT METHENY TRIO featuring Antonio Sanchez and Scott Colley For a certain group of his fans, there is no setting that defines Pat Metheny the musician as clearly as his trio playing. Scattered among the chronology of his vast recorded output are three of the most revered, studied and influential guitar trio albums of our time; Bright Size Life, recorded in 1975 with Metheny's first working band, featuring bassist Jaco Pastorius and drummer Bob Moses – a record that literally had the effect of changing the entire language of jazz guitar practically overnight and reclaiming it for a new generation of players; Rejoicing, recorded in 1984 with Metheny's working trio of that time, featuring bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Billy Higgins; and Question And Answer, an incendiary meeting of three of the most quick thinking improvisers of the era – Roy Haynes on drums, with the incomparable Dave Holland joining in on bass. The trio presented here is an incarnation of Pat’s latest, with bassist Scott Colley filling in for regular Christian McBride. Scott has been one of the most in-demand bassists in jazz for the past 10 years playing extensively with Herbie Hancock, Jim Hall, Andrew Hill and many others. Antonio Sanchez is certainly one of the most spectacular drumming talents to emerge in jazz in many years. In addition to his work with the Pat Metheny Group he has been involved in projects with Miguel Zenon, Michael Brecker, Danilo Perez and many others. The trio will visit music from throughout the Metheny trio repertoire as well as playing some new pieces. Jazz Beat TD Canada Trust series, Wednesday, July 6, 9:30 p.m., at Spectrum PAT METHENY AND FRIENDS; FRESH ENCOUNTERS featuring David Sanchez, Enrico Rava, Scott Colley, Antonio Sanchez & Me’shell Ndegeocello, Ron Blake and Chris Dave For all the old friends that Metheny will join up with during this years Montreal residency, this program will showcase him alongside a diverse and intriguing cast of musicians whose skills and talents Metheny has admired from a distance while never or rarely having had the chance to perform with. “David Sanchez is one of my absolute favourite tenor players” says Metheny. “With David, there is clarity and passion that informs every idea that he plays. He has the kind of kinetic power and energy that we recognize in so many of the post-Coltrane players, but there is a gracefulness and spirit to it that is unique. We have talked about playing together for many years, but somehow we have just never found the time or the opportunity to make it happen. This will be an especially exciting encounter – Antonio Sanchez was a member of David’s excellent working band for several years, so they already have a great hook-up. I am really looking forward to the chance to play with David!” “Enrico Rava is a poet, a storyteller and a giant of melody” offers Metheny about the most celebrated Italian jazz musician of all time. “I have known Enrico since our shared early days at ECM where we occasionally did tours opposite each other, and I always loved his playing and his records. But we never had the chance to play together until a few years ago at a small Italian festival in a tiny Sardinian fishing village. It was an amazing concert and ever since then, whenever there has been any chance to do anything with Enrico, I jump at it. It seems that we have a special rapport somewhere deep. We did a few duets one night that were so satisfying. When I hear Enrico, it makes me dream – he has that special, rare communicative quality that so few modern jazz musicians seem to possess. I also think that he and David together........well, let’s see what happens!” “Somehow Me’shell captures the sound of the future that reminds of everything ancient that made us who we are today” Metheny muses on the great Me’Shell Ndegeocello. “I have loved her music since she first came on the scene with “Plantation Lullabies”. But last summer, I heard her on a tour she was doing around Europe with a group of musicians playing mostly instrumental music that totally blew my mind. There were a lot of great bands touring that summer, but to me, what those guys were doing under Me’shell was the hippest thing I heard all year. It reminded me a lot of Herbie’s Mwandishi period which has always been some of my favorite music, but with Me’shell’s incredible bass playing and the totally killing drumming of Chris Dave, it was addressing all the stuff that has happened in the 30 years since Mwandishi as well. Ron Blake, who was featured on Me’shell’s tour, has been one of the best tenors around New York for years, we all love his work in the Christian McBride Band and in everything else he does, and he and I again have always wanted to hook up. When I met Me’shell recently she expressed an interest in wanting to play. I was thrilled and we are happy to be able to present our first meeting together under the guise of this series.” Les Grands Concerts TD Canada Trust series, Thursday, July 7, 6:00 p.m., at Théâtre Maisonneuve of the PdA PAT METHENY AND CHARLIE HADEN – ONE QUIET NIGHT, BEYOND THE MISSOURI SKY There is a large scale, big canvas kind of quality to much of Pat Metheny’s work; records like Secret Story or a few of his Pat Metheny Group records reveal an artist who is looking to fill up large swaths of white space with an infinity of color. But not far below the surface, even in the most ambitious works, lies a reservoir of deep quiet. For all the ripping and burning that can go on in a Metheny solo, there is also the equal possibility of a single well placed note with lots of space around it, a simple, almost childlike melody ready to appear in contrast or emerging out of the most challenging of harmonic or textural environments. With the release of “Beyond the Missouri Sky” in 1996, Metheny finally laid bare a full, unrestrained dose of this quiet area of his musical personality. With his best friend Charlie Haden, the two Missouri natives crafted a work that revealed a beauty that was universal through their shared reflections on their rural Midwestern roots. The record became a cult hit; it has sold hundreds of thousands of copies around the world and remains one of the most popular and most loved jazz records of the past decade. Says Metheny: “Charlie is one of the greatest musicians on the planet. From the first time I heard him playing with Ornette (Coleman), he has been my favourite bass player. The fact that we have become such close friends is one of the blessings of my life. I love Charlie like a brother. That record was literally us sitting around and talking a little, and then playing some and then and then talking some more. It all just went together. After awhile, I said, “Charlie, we’re playing all ballads, don’t you think we should pick up the tempo a little?” He said “No!!” We laughed, and kept playing ballads. And he was so right. That record showed me so many things about the way that I played that I didn’t even know about – but Charlie knew.” Beyond the Missouri Sky was the first record that Metheny focused entirely on acoustic guitar. In 2001, not long after the events of September 11th, Metheny offered a set of reflective, mostly improvised solo guitar pieces performed on a specially tuned acoustic baritone guitar built for him by Canadian luthier Linda Manzer. Music from both records will be performed on this concert. Les Grands Concerts TD Canada Trust series, Friday, July 8, 6:00 p.m., at Théâtre Maisonneuve of the PdA EXPLORING THE MUSIC OF THE CLASSIC GARY BURTON QUARTET; A REUNION featuring Gary Burton, Pat Metheny and Steve Swallow with Antonio Sanchez Pat Metheny on the Gary Burton Quartet; “From the time I first heard the Gary’s Quartet in 1968, that became my favourite band.