I saw guitar demi-god Pat Metheny play with bassist Larry Grenadier last night at Liberty Hall here in Lawrence. He played a lot of guitar on several separate guitars, including a technologically advanced one with many bells and whistles that allowed him a great number of special effects, and a semi-acoustic-looking one that let him play a gentle flamenco-like song. They played several tunes I recognized from some of the trio albums in which Metheny and Grenadier played with drummer Bill Stewart.
The last time I saw PM he was in a trio format with Antonio Sánchez, I think, in the same hall. Curiously, I didn't miss having a drummer in this case. I have never seen Grenadier in person so this was a good experience for me.
Larry and Pat as a duo, fabulous! I saw them with Stewart about ten years ago, and I saw Larry again this spring, with Jason Moran, Chris Potter, and Eric Harland. A brilliant show in Basel. Larry did an email interview with me about it afterwards.
ResponderEliminarI first saw Larry in SF with Joe Henderson in the 80s, when Larry was still in high school, once in a trio and once in a duo. And then I saw him with Tom Harrell in 1996, and I've seen him four or five times with Brad Mehldau. A wonderful player! And a Stanford English grad!
The interview:
ResponderEliminarhttp://andrewjshields.blogspot.com/2011/06/interview-with-larry-grenadier.html
Cool. Last time I saw PM he was playing with Christian McBride. I thought Grenadier was less ostentatious and more supportive.
ResponderEliminarMetheny. Meth, not math.
ResponderEliminarEnyway . . .