I don't know where to begin when it comes to Pat Metheny. He is the closest thing to a music God or Diety that I have ever seen. He's on a completely different level of musicianship. Granted, there are guru's and geniuses, virtuoso's and prodigies, but even they can be categorized together, whereas Metheny simply cannot. I know that this man hears things differently than the rest of the world. What I would give to sit in a white room with him and his guitar for 10 minutes. He'd undoubtedly be clad in one of his striped, turn of the century style prison shirts, and by the end of it, the walls would probably be brought to life by a collage of color and sound. Simply put, he is a the game-changer to change all games, in the field of Sound.
Metheny was recognized as a rare talent all his own from a young age, and was offered collegiate teaching positions before the age of 18. I won't give you a summary of the man's life, if you're truly interested, simply start with wikipedia page (Pat Metheny). Though he's typically thought of as a Jazz man (and certainly has that flair for innovation), his genre transcendent ways are absolutely acknowledged by all. There's not a box in the world shaped to his design. Constraints were made for him to personally laugh at.
I've seen him play many times, more than I can count on my two hands, as good ol' Mama Bundell was always a die-hard fan. Her devout love of this man's music is perhaps the ultimate testament to her unquestionable wisdom. She recognized something special in his music, years before he became remotely popular. And though he's had three albums achieve Gold status, and won 19 Grammy awards, he's still largely unknown by the masses. I base this largely off discussions I've had with many people who consider themselves "music fanatics." The mere mentioning of his name either triggers a look of bewilderment, or in some, prompts a lame attempt to feign knowledge of the man. Clearly though, you can tell when someone has no idea what you're talking about and is simply playing along. We've all done it. We've all been caught.
I'm certainly not surprised by this lack of exposure though. His music is not trendy, though it's surely transcendent. You won't find him on the Billboard 200, you'll find him on the bill of a 200 seat auditorium concert somewhere (though he'd obviously be on the "Billboard Jazz", but bare with me, I'm making a point here!). And that's just fine in my opinion. It ensures that his work remains about the music and nothing else. Though I don't think this man could be about anything else if he tried.
I've seen him play with his "group," usually a quartet featuring the co-writing and 'black n' white' skills of the incredible Lyle Mays. I've also seen him play solo shows. I've seen him play in a trio with Christian McBride (bass) and Antonio Sanchez (drums), and I've seen him play with an entire orchestra. Of machines. Yes that's right, machines all controlled by his single guitar and dubbed The Orchestrion Project (Orchestrion Video). Tell me this doesn't make you feel under productive (Orchestrion EPK). I've also seen him play with Pikasso, a 42-string guitar creation that he built himself (Metheny & Pikasso). You see, there's no limits to his creativity and ingenuity. The man is as much an inventor, as he is anything else. And he is a lot of things. Categorizing him is an exercise in futility.
"Last Train Home" is inspirational song off of arguably his most connectable album, American Garage. It's a beautiful, gripping, driving, and soulful creation of Metheny's ethereal guitar playing, embedded in the perfect arraignment of complementary instruments. It's also one of the first songs that I really remember hearing of his. When I was very young, I remember brief instances of us listening to this song, or me badgering my mother incessantly to play it, over and over again. It was one of those songs that I couldn't get enough of. Some kids wanted Raffi and Baby Beluga, I wanted Metheny. All day, every day. Obviously my yearning extended to many works outside of this one, but "Last Train Home" was the penultimate song of the day. I had to hear it at least once every night, before I went to bed. To this day, the song still has the same effect on me as it did then. It's soothing, yet motivational. Relaxing and recharging, but also energizing. And I would recommend at least a brief foray into Metheny's works for everyone. American Garage is a good place to start. It certainly was for me.
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