What could be a better way to observe St. Patrick’s Day than listening to jazz pioneer and musical innovator Pat Metheny perform at Birmingham’s Lyric Theatre?
In an official announcement, the Lyric Theatre stated, "The Missouri-born Metheny's career stretches back over forty years, during which time his stunning fusion of jazz, pop and world music has won him twenty Grammy Awards and recently saw him become the youngest member of Downbeat's Hall of Fame (the jazz equivalent of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame)."
Metheny will be joined on Sunday, March 17 at 6 p.m. by a band of hugely accomplished players, including his longtime drummer Antonio Sanchez, bassist Linda Oh and British pianist Simcock, who will help bring some of Metheny's lesser-known and most ambitious cuts to life on stage.
After leaving Alabama, Metheny’s ‘Dream Box Tour’ works an impressive itinerary with shows in Ft. Lauderdale, Gainesville, Clearwater, Stuart, Florida, Orlando, Atlanta, Greenville, SC, Charleston, Charlotte, Durham, Lexington, KY, North Bethesda, MD, Morristown, NJ, Reading, PA, Hew York, Ridgefield, CT, Portland, ME, Portsmouth, NH, Northhampton, MA, and Poughkeepsie, NY.
Metheny is a lifelong lover of music from his Missouri upbringing. His father and grandfather were jazz trumpeters. His older brother, Mike, is a flugelhornist. Trumpet was Metheny’s first instrument, but by age 12, he had fallen in love with the guitar.
Influences on his music were Wes Montgomery, the Beatles, and Miles Davis.
Metheny is the only person known to have been about to flunk out of college because of continuously playing the guitar. He ended up turning himself into his dean, who had sponsored him for a scholarship. The dean then offered him a job teaching a new course of study, electric guitar. It worked.
Metheny is an experimenter and innovator with musical instruments and techniques:
Elaborate custom-made instruments,
One-person orchestras,
Avant-garde electric guitar solos,
Minimalist compositions,
Custom-made 42-string Pikasso,
Mini-guitar,
Acoustic sitar guitar, and
Baritone guitar.
Fans at Metheny’s performances always wonder what off-the-beaten-path musical techniques they will see and hear. Wonder what we will experience on March 17 in Birmingham?
Will Matheny and his musicians wear the Irish green?
Will they perform Irish tunes?
Metheny's performances are famous for the different and the unexpected.
The official Pat Metheny website is http://patmetheny.com
“People sometimes say it takes a long time to become a jazz fan, but for me it took about five seconds.” — Pat Metheny
Jim Zeigler is a former Alabama Public Service Commissioner and State Auditor. You can reach him for comments at ZeiglerElderCare@yahoo.com.
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