Pat Metheny closed out his fall Orchestrion tour of North America with a final concert in Connecticut on Saturday. The Hartford Courant describes Metheny as "a visionary artist, as he displayed throughout Saturday's performance"; his "one-man orchestra proved to be an exciting and constantly creative endeavor." MassLive, reviewing Thursday's show in Northampton, says Metheny has "found a way to create world’s tightest jazz band."
Pat Metheny spent the weekend performing the music of his latest Nonesuch release, Orchestrion, with the stage-full of custom-made instruments he had created for the project and played via solenoid switches and pneumatics. He closed of his fall Orchestrion tour of North America with concerts at the Tilles Center in Brookville, New York, on Friday, and the Warner Theatre in Torrington, Connecticut, on Saturday.
The Hartford Courant, in its review of Saturday's show, concludes: "Metheny's one-man orchestra proved to be an exciting and constantly creative endeavor."
Courant reviewer Chuck Obuchowski describes Metheny as "a visionary artist, as he displayed throughout Saturday's performance." As impressive as the device is, "All the technical know-how that went into assembling this instrumental behemoth has been utilized to serve the music," says Obuchowski, "and the music was quintessential Metheny: lush, flowing melodies, scintillating percussion, and a mélange of postbop swing, Midwestern roots, with touches of rock and pan-ethnic folk styles."
Read the complete concert review at courant.com.
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Reviewing Thursday night's show at the Calvin Theatre in Northampton, Massachusetts, for The Republican's MassLive, writer Chris Dondoros described the Orchestrion as "a sight to behold" and found Metheny, "in complete control of this device ... had found a way to create world’s tightest jazz band, with each instrument clearly visible and clearly playing their parts—there were no tricks involved."
As complex a collection of instruments as the Orchstrion is, "Metheny performed a few improvised pieces in an attempt to explain how the Orchestrion worked, utilizing all its instruments and creating incredibly complex, layered compositions on the fly."
Read the complete concert review at masslive.com.
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To pick up a copy of Orchestrion on CD, vinyl, and MP3, head to the Nonesuch Store. Orders of CD and vinyl include 320 kbps MP3s of the complete album at checkout.
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