Pat Metheny has recently achieved a modicum of pop stardom via the single release This Is Not America, which features David Bowie. The single was taken from the soundtrack of the film The Falcon And The Snowman, which Metheny co-composed with keyboardist Lyle Mays, and more than once at Hammersmith, it seemed that film scoring might be Metheny’s true vocation.
This 30-year-old guitarist’s instrumental talents are indisputable, and strong bebop roots were clearly audible in almost every solo he took. Also, there were many moments in this 150-minute set which left no doubt of the band’s ability to turn up the heat and trigger alarm signals among the enthusiastic near-capacity crowd. In particular, we heard a bizarre, disoriented march which opened the set while band members came on stage severally, then later a rather unsubtle piece dedicated to Ornette Coleman, where Metheny played acapella guitar synthesiser, graduating from atonal single-string improvisation to a hooligan assault on the guitar that echoed Derek Bailey’s doings at the Incus Festival the week before, and finally some downhome bluesy swing which was one of the most unwholesome and consequently most enjoyable episodes of the evening.
Aside from these incidents, the group moved pretty much under the shadow of a dreamy hippy legacy. The keyword for much of the evening was mellow as an abundance of gently loping and lilting Latin and country-rock rhythms were overlaid with highly consonant and ingenuous melodies. Metheny drew a typically broad range of sounds from over half a dozen guitars, vocalist Pedro Aznar assisted on wordless vocals and Lyle Mays proved a tasteful but limited soloist. Enhanced by a sense of occasion and the sheer visual drama of the live performance, the group’s music seemed more convincing than on record, which explains perhaps why Mays and Metheny are so effective as film scorers.
