Pat Metheny and Side-Eye delivered the goods in Tulsa
Touring on the brand new album Side-Eye III+ which released on February 27th via his own Uniquity Music, Pat Metheny and band are in the midst of an extensive US spring tour. It brought the jazz and guitar legend back to Tulsa for the first time, as near as I can tell, since 1998, though Tulsa has been a frequent stop throughout his career.The performance took place at Chapman Music Hall in the Tulsa Performing Arts Center, a 2,365-seat venue with warm acoustics that suited the music well.
Always prolific throughout his career, Metheny’s most recent projects have centered around a trio showcasing emerging jazz talent. The first Side-Eye release was a live one from 2021 that featured guitar, piano and drums. On this most recent album, Metheny put together a new Side-Eye band, this time adding bass, percussion, harp, vocals and more to the core trio. For his touring ensemble, album alumni Chris Fishman and Joe Dyson are on keys and drums respectively, with Jermaine Paul on bass and Leonard Patton on percussion and vocals. Over the course of the two-hour performance, Metheny led the talented band through a wonderful blend of new and career-spanning material that sounded fresh, multi-textured and compelling. I found it fascinating watching the subtle cues between the musicians throughout the set. A nod of the head here, or a glance there, and even the occasional unseen musically spoken x-factor that so often occurs in music of an improvisational nature. The marching percussion intro (Forward March) kicked things off with a crisp flair before launching straight into the buoyant swing of “Bright Size Life,” setting the tone for a night that felt both tightly arranged and joyfully loose.
As a guitar aficionado, I was also excited to watch a master at work live and in person. Wielding an arsenal of guitars and effects, throughout the evening Metheny bounced back and forth from acoustic to his trademark hollowbodies, a synth guitar and nylon-string instruments, always sounding distinctly familiar. Metheny’s style has always evoked to me a juxtaposition of the hard-bop smoothness of Wes Montgomery with the free-jazz spirit of Ornette Coleman. His tone is impeccable and the evening’s sound was perfectly dialed in and complemented by the Hall’s acoustics. There was a lot of music to absorb over the 2 hour plus performance. Personal highlights for me included the shimmering aforementioned, “Bright Size Life,” the atmospheric “Urban and Western,” the tasty “The Red One,” as well as the encore duo of “America The Beautiful” and “Are You Going With Me?”.
As a side note, prior to the performance there was an announcent that this evening no photography or recording was permitted, including cell phones. In a surprising turn of events, people actually listened! I didn’t see the glow of a single screen the entire evening, and have to admit, it enhanced the experience immensely, and also kept the audience present, and part of the moment. My sincere thank you to Pat Metheny’s team as well as the Tulsa Performing Arts Center for accomodating me briefly getting the photos that accompany this review.
The band will continue stops across the US into May, before heading across the pond to the UK in June. You can find more information on Pat Metheny and Side-Eye, as well as a complete list of tour dates by visiting Metheny’s official website here: https://patmetheny.com