Pat Metheny Interview (last week)
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hubird
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Nestor
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Pat is not only an extraordinary guitarist, but a super developed musician too, not to forget he is one of the finest composers of the two last centuries at least, in many styles and conditions…
Pat is going to pass to the history of universal music as one of the greatest musicians of all times, fair enough!
Pat is going to pass to the history of universal music as one of the greatest musicians of all times, fair enough!
*MUSIC* The most Powerful Language in the world! *INDEED*
If someone wants to check out Metheney's playing, this is a nice place to start:
http://jazz-rock-fusion-guitar.blogspot ... -jaco.html
(if you like it hunt it down and buy it!)
http://jazz-rock-fusion-guitar.blogspot ... -jaco.html
(if you like it hunt it down and buy it!)
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hubird
you're jumping from two decades to eternity in two sentensesNestor wrote:Pat is not only an extraordinary guitarist, but a super developed musician too, not to forget he is one of the finest composers of the two last centuries at least, in many styles and conditions…
Pat is going to pass to the history of universal music as one of the greatest musicians of all times, fair enough!
It still is history itself tho which decides about that qualification.
So far the youngsters all over the world don't have any idea who's P.M., and there's not much hope this will change very soon.
Say f.e. Bach would by some logic be number one in history, but noone in the world knows about him anymore, would he still really be the biggest ever?
But enjoy him, like (even
) I do like I said, at least it's (compicated) dance, without the worn out pretention to be so bussy with the expression of the deepest personal feelings...-
kensuguro
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pat metheny's cool for that era i think, like hubird says, he's definitely one the recent greats that have long been forgotten from the public's memory. Just like Jaco.. they're all great, but only a very specific group of people know or like them.
Strangely, Pat's music never really struck me as being quite so earth shatteringly awesome as many people regard his music as. It sounds fusion, and has some world music influence.. improv rocks, but that seems to be pretty much it. The guitar synth bit was a little catchy, but not anymore these days. It's probably because everyone emphasizes his 80's days.. maybe it's different these days.
But I think that's the life cycle of a musician. His music really did influence a lot of guitarists that followed, and left a distinct mark of the Pat Methany sound.. And people digested it, learned, and started making different things... for close to 20 years. And the world is a lot different now. Of course, it doesn't make him any less great, but it does put him a bit out of context. (although he did contribute quite a bit to the evolution of the musical context)
I think Pat performs with Brad Mehldau these days. Brad's cool. I don't really like him, but he's definitely cutting edge.
But since his recent performance got an okay from hubird, I guess I should check out some of his recent stuff..
Strangely, Pat's music never really struck me as being quite so earth shatteringly awesome as many people regard his music as. It sounds fusion, and has some world music influence.. improv rocks, but that seems to be pretty much it. The guitar synth bit was a little catchy, but not anymore these days. It's probably because everyone emphasizes his 80's days.. maybe it's different these days.
But I think that's the life cycle of a musician. His music really did influence a lot of guitarists that followed, and left a distinct mark of the Pat Methany sound.. And people digested it, learned, and started making different things... for close to 20 years. And the world is a lot different now. Of course, it doesn't make him any less great, but it does put him a bit out of context. (although he did contribute quite a bit to the evolution of the musical context)
I think Pat performs with Brad Mehldau these days. Brad's cool. I don't really like him, but he's definitely cutting edge.
But since his recent performance got an okay from hubird, I guess I should check out some of his recent stuff..
Have to say I agree with you there... there's very few of even the really great jazz/fusion musicians I'd want to watch these days (and I don't think I'd even really class Pat Metheney as one of those - I don't think he was as groundbreaking as many other people were). Apart from any questions of relevance/cultural significance/whatever, they're simply not going to sound as good as they did back in the 70s. I much prefer to trawl the internet looking for bootlegs of 70s live shows. Of course you need to put up with some quality issues most of the time, but there's really nothing like watching those cats play back when they were on the cutting edge of music.
Having said all this, I'm glad that these guys are still around doing what they love doing. For example, even if I wouldn't necessarily go to see him play today (more than once anyway), I sure would be happier if Jaco was still alive and doing his thing. The way I see it there probably is a time when you reach a certain age when concepts like aesthetic / fashionable / culturally progressive etc don't really mean a great deal any more, and you simply do things for the enjoyment, however self-indulgent that might end up being. And sometimes these old dudes might even surprise you by actually touching the greatness of their prime years.
Having said all this, I'm glad that these guys are still around doing what they love doing. For example, even if I wouldn't necessarily go to see him play today (more than once anyway), I sure would be happier if Jaco was still alive and doing his thing. The way I see it there probably is a time when you reach a certain age when concepts like aesthetic / fashionable / culturally progressive etc don't really mean a great deal any more, and you simply do things for the enjoyment, however self-indulgent that might end up being. And sometimes these old dudes might even surprise you by actually touching the greatness of their prime years.
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Nestor
- Posts: 6688
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To my observation and point of view, and if life keeps Pat Metheny well in health, his carrier as a “composer” has just started and the best is still to come, believe me… 
The fact that there are “many” or “few” people following him is not a concern, (all on the contrary) What is important is the TALENT and the quality of output of his work.
My point is that most people eat lots of rubbish like modified food, plastic hamburgers, lots of chemical ingredients and very, very little natural food and vegetables… Most people don’t exercise and pass their lives in stagnation while their bodies become heavy and unpleasant to stand. What is better is eating natural stuff and doing exercise! The problem is that most people don’t distinguish where it is the best from the worst in a much generalised way because of the incredible ignorance that exists in the world today. This is because the main concern is money, and not education; because the main concern is power and not real politics, because popular art has become light entertainment and not inner growth and so forth... The last thing I will do to get to know if something is valuable in terms of art, is finding out if it is massive or there are just a few people following it. In the realms of art, if something is too massive in a “popular” way, with rare exceptions to take in consideration, it tends to be poor or of lower quality and most of all, superficial. I put here the disgusting reggaeton music style for instance
I always say that music is a language, and as a language it needs to be understood and not everybody understands the same thing and there is an “age” and a “group of life experiences needed” to understand certain things... This is so true! You cannot pretend to understand everything just because you’ve got in touch with it, this is not enough. You need to absorb any given thing in much deeper ways and that takes time, personal experience and maturity. THE MUSIC YOU VIBRATE WITH IS A MIRROR OF WHO YOU ARE
Despite that Pat is centred in jazz playing music his musical interests are fairly open, so I think we will get some interesting compositions coming up in the following years, not always related to jazz.
I know you’re going to hate me for this one… he…
The fact that there are “many” or “few” people following him is not a concern, (all on the contrary) What is important is the TALENT and the quality of output of his work.
My point is that most people eat lots of rubbish like modified food, plastic hamburgers, lots of chemical ingredients and very, very little natural food and vegetables… Most people don’t exercise and pass their lives in stagnation while their bodies become heavy and unpleasant to stand. What is better is eating natural stuff and doing exercise! The problem is that most people don’t distinguish where it is the best from the worst in a much generalised way because of the incredible ignorance that exists in the world today. This is because the main concern is money, and not education; because the main concern is power and not real politics, because popular art has become light entertainment and not inner growth and so forth... The last thing I will do to get to know if something is valuable in terms of art, is finding out if it is massive or there are just a few people following it. In the realms of art, if something is too massive in a “popular” way, with rare exceptions to take in consideration, it tends to be poor or of lower quality and most of all, superficial. I put here the disgusting reggaeton music style for instance
I always say that music is a language, and as a language it needs to be understood and not everybody understands the same thing and there is an “age” and a “group of life experiences needed” to understand certain things... This is so true! You cannot pretend to understand everything just because you’ve got in touch with it, this is not enough. You need to absorb any given thing in much deeper ways and that takes time, personal experience and maturity. THE MUSIC YOU VIBRATE WITH IS A MIRROR OF WHO YOU ARE
Despite that Pat is centred in jazz playing music his musical interests are fairly open, so I think we will get some interesting compositions coming up in the following years, not always related to jazz.
I know you’re going to hate me for this one… he…
*MUSIC* The most Powerful Language in the world! *INDEED*
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hubird
Of course, his quality and musicionship aren't questioned (I know when authentic quality is involved, even when I don't like a style so much), I'm just saying that the relevance of someone's music is (sociologically) dependent of the acceptance by a public.
Without a certain 'public', quality may be there but isn't relevant, alas.
On the other hand, big acceptance of a style isn't a garantee for quality, see the immense popularity of what's called R&B these days.
That's why 'best of' polls are so meaningless: a few years later and the poll itself is outdated, let alone possibly the single artists...
Without a certain 'public', quality may be there but isn't relevant, alas.
On the other hand, big acceptance of a style isn't a garantee for quality, see the immense popularity of what's called R&B these days.
That's why 'best of' polls are so meaningless: a few years later and the poll itself is outdated, let alone possibly the single artists...
I just posted this because I know there are fans here.
I myself do not own any of his music but I enjoyed the interview.
My feeling is that he is way too conservative as are many contemporary jazz musicians. He is very polished and no chances are taken. Technically he is superb but aesthetically, He needs more grit and spontaneity. I am well aware that there is a great deal of improvisation in this music but when one practices the same scales for so many hours it seems to subtract from the basic random dreamlike quality I seek. He has been a leader for a long time. Perhaps he should take direction from someone else other than himself for a while. This will not happen however as he is doing well and there are many fans and yes men.
I myself do not own any of his music but I enjoyed the interview.
My feeling is that he is way too conservative as are many contemporary jazz musicians. He is very polished and no chances are taken. Technically he is superb but aesthetically, He needs more grit and spontaneity. I am well aware that there is a great deal of improvisation in this music but when one practices the same scales for so many hours it seems to subtract from the basic random dreamlike quality I seek. He has been a leader for a long time. Perhaps he should take direction from someone else other than himself for a while. This will not happen however as he is doing well and there are many fans and yes men.
Here's another contribution from the man from the " Show Me State ".
http://www.jacopastorius.com/biography
http://www.jacopastorius.com/biography