But by the time the trio took “Bright Size Life,” the opening song from Metheny’s 1976 debut album of the same name – still perhaps the maestro’s snappiest and most recognizable riff – through its paces, everything started to click. Dyson initially underplayed on the drums, sticking to rapid, close work on cymbals and snares, and Fishman appeared slightly nervous about keeping up with Metheny’s characteristic ebullience. Both seemed a bit slow to settle in as Metheny took them through a bouncy run-through of “So May It Secretly Begin,” from the 1987 classic Still Life (Talking). Though it may resemble an imaginary instrument, Metheny made it sound very real, turning the empyreal “Into the Dream,” from 1997’s Imaginary Day, into an extended polyphonic meditation and a cosmic hoedown, at one point knocking on its vast body and later triggering a sampled bass line through some sort of mysterious technological wizardry (possibly a Synclavier setup.)Īfter demonstrating that one man can sound like a full band with the right tools, the current iteration of the Side-Eye group, formed by Metheny to highlight younger up-and-coming jazz musicians, walked on stage: drummer Joe Dyson and organ/keyboard player Chris Fishman. Metheny began the show solo, playing a custom-built monster of a harp/guitar called the “Pikasso,” presumably because its multiple necks, two sound holes and wealth of criss-crossing strings make it resemble a Cubist painting (or an AI-generated image that went overboard). Live, it’s a different story, that smoothness showing all sorts of precisely defined, oddly contoured and unexpected edges, while Metheny’s elastic fervor - which can read as cheese to the uninitiated - fills a room with a boundlessly confident, even forceful authority. Limpid and silky, it can often seem sanded down - “too smooth,” as many detractors argue - in the studio, overly processed both in the sonic and the culinary sense. The surroundings were mildly opulent without being fussy, boasted a capacious stage for Metheny’s impressive wealth of keyboards, guitars and homemade instruments (more on those later) and, most importantly, pristine acoustics that allowed the nearly full house to hear the nuances of every note with razor-sharp clarity.Īnd about that tone while Metheny’s many excellent albums capture his exuberant skill, eclectic influences and complex moods, they don’t, it turns out, do justice to the way his guitar actually sounds. Playing for the first time in the Muriel Kauffman Theatre, a surprisingly intimate 1,800-person room that opened, along with the rest of the performing arts center in which it’s housed, in 2011, Pat Metheny had a space ideally suited for his famously buttery tone. Limited edition: ensure your vinyl copy by pre-ordering today.Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, Kansas City, MO As we move beyond the first twenty years of KCJO’s exis tence and into the next, the future is bright with possibilities of how Kansas City’s jazz tradition will continue to grow,” says Ashlock. With “Moten Swing” as the only song from yesteryear, KCJO’s family of artists penned tunes that are steeped in the riffy, bluesy regional language and also reflective of the creative energy of today. The former carries a lot of weight in the Kansas City jazz community, but with In The Key of KC, the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra (KCJO) is paying homage to the past through the creation of new big band works. "At times, jazz is a measured balance of tradition and innovation. This approach allows the band to pay homage to the architects of the Kansas City sound from years past, while concurrently introducing new sonorities informed by the evolution of big band jazz in the 21st century. KCJO's fourth studio presents, for the first time, an album of arrangements by current members of the ensemble, with all but one track an original composition. The official album release party will be held the following night, Saturday, September 23, at the Kauffman Center, kicking off the 2023-24 Signature Series, alongside guest vocalist Eboni Fondren. Artistic Director Clint Ashlock has announced the upcoming album release of In the Key of KC, Friday September 22, 2023, a project to commemorate the KCJO's twenty y ear anniversary.
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