Pat Metheny begins the North American leg of his world Orchestrion tour today, just as the album releases on vinyl. The Wall Street Journal's Ashley Kahn takes a look at the orchestrion in action, calling the performance "surprisingly fluid and nuanced," with "Metheny's trademark guitar sound: fluid, with a clear melodic sense, flitting between a bright, pop approach and a more moody effect." The album, says Kahn, contains "as beautiful a melody as any Mr. Metheny has written since his Question and Answer session."
Pat Metheny begins the North American leg of his world tour today with music from his latest Nonesuch release, Orchestrion, featuring the assemblage of instruments, computers, solenoid switches, and, of course, Metheny's own nimble fingers that made the album such a feat. Today also marks the release of Orchestrion on vinyl, following its January release on CD. The European tour began shortly after the CD release, leading the Times of London to give four stars to the Barbican show, which was met with "a gasp of wonder" from the audience and resulted in "a highly original performance, full of delightful invention and an almost childlike imagination."
The Wall Street Journal's Ashley Kahn visited Metheny, whom he calls "one of the most original voices on electric guitar today," in the Brooklyn rehearsal space (a former church) where the orchestrion was being prepared for the lengthy tour that lay ahead. Metheny put the machine to work and gave Kahn a sample of what audiences could expect on the tour.
"The performance is surprisingly fluid and nuanced," Kahn reports. "Yes, the instruments are automated, but there's no robotic feel, no sameness to the dynamics or phrasing. And there's Mr. Metheny's trademark guitar sound: fluid, with a clear melodic sense, flitting between a bright, pop approach and a more moody effect."
The article explores the mechanics behind that came to life at Metheny's hands and only after a good deal of invention commissioned by the guitarist/composer.
All of that effort was put to good use on the album. Kahn says the pieces on Orchestrion "offer a mix of moods, textures and tempos. The title track explores the full range of the orchestrion's ability to create sonic sheets of looseness and density, while 'Soul Search' is as beautiful a melody as any Mr. Metheny has written since his Question and Answer session 20 years ago. 'Spirit of the Air'—which Mr. Metheny demonstrated in his Brooklyn workshop—is a joyous, free-spirited jam that closes the album."
You'll find the article at online.wsj.com.
To pick up a copy of Orchestrion on vinyl or CD, with the complete album as 320 kbps MP3s at no additional cost, visit the Nonesuch Store. For all of the upcoming tour dates, head to nonesuch.com/on-tour.
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