Guitar virtuoso Pat Metheny has notched up 20 Grammy awards, and he’s the only person to have won across 10 different categories. Promoting his latest album, Side-Eye III+, he tells Prog how he goes about finding new collaboratos, and outlines what he’s looking for in a potential partnership.
With a wide range of musicians lobbying against copyright infringement via use of AI, 20-time Grammy winner Pat Metheny’s stance on the technology actually seems surprisingly positive.
“I’m all over it,” he admits. “Curious and excited. I hear a lot of fear and a lot of anxiety – but I see AI as part of this wonderful array of tools we musicians have available in the 21st century.”
Isn’t he afraid of his music being fed to the algorithms so his essence can be mimicked? “They’ve already done it. But if I type my name in then what I hear back is – well, they can’t really cop a lot of that stuff yet.
“Okay, there’s a threat to the paying-the-rent part of music for sure. The guys who write muzak, man, they’re done. But I got into music so that I can understand it more, and there’s no shortcut to understanding harmony and counterpoint and improvisation.
“The key thing about AI is that it’s still searching and there’s something missing. It’s like if you ask a musician to define ‘soul,’ or you ask a neuroscientist to define ‘consciousness.’ They can’t do it.”
Metheny believes in the principal of giving back – it’s the guiding concept behind his latest album Side-Eye III+, the first release on his Uniquity Music label. “From the age of 14 or 15, I was the beneficiary of so many older musicians who let me be on the bandstand with them,” he says. “It’s important to keep that inter-generational thing going. That’s how this thing works.
“I still play with [Miles Davis foil] Roy Carter and he’s not far off 90 now. But I’m also extremely aware of who’s coming up, what they’re playing and how they’re playing. I follow the scene very closely.”
He explains his tried-and-trusted audition process: “I’ll hear people and think, ‘Yep, I can imagine playing with this person.’ I’ll invite them up to my house to try a few tunes. We’ll do a few standards, we’ll play the blues, and then I might ask if they know any of my tunes, maybe Bright Size Life [opening track of Metheny’s classic 1976 debut of the same name] or something.
“Within 10 blocks of where I live in New York City, I could probably put together six bands who could eat up all the tunes from Bright Size Life. But if you can’t groove on a medium-tempo blues, it’s going to be hard for us to hang, you know? Some kind of pop sensibility is a huge thing for me. If you want me to go ‘Dinga! Dinga! Dinga!’ for five minutes and it’s grooving, I’m more than happy to do so.”
Metheny’s mentioning of one of his older records reminds Prog of another, 1981’s As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls, his beautifully filmic collaboration with late keyboardist Lyle Mays. “Oh, that’s a real special record for sure,” he agrees. “There was no Spotify back then; well, there was no MIDI either, so everything had to be played – not programmed.
“Another reason As Falls Wichita is one of my favourites is that we never played much of it live, so its memory isn’t tarnished by any bad performances. It only really exists on record.”
Metheny doesn’t do bad performances, as will doubtless be demonstrated on July 18 and 19, when he’ll be bringing his Side-Eye III+ tour to London’s Barbican Centre. He’s envisaging shows of several hours duration, such is his current touring line-up’s versatility and appetite.
“People are going to be blown away and I feel like we’re just getting started,” he says. “You know, Chris Fishman, our piano player, is also a great drummer who sometimes plays with [US singer songwriter] Mac DeMarco. It’s great to have a pianist who has that kind of rhythmic sensibility.”
And the touring process itself: does the 71-year-old Metheny still enjoy it, even with all the travel and waiting around to soundcheck? “I can’t wait to get back on the road and get some rest!” he says. “It’s such an exalted existence. I’ve got three kids, two dogs and a fantastic wife and I love them all, but civilian life is much more of a challenge for me.
“I love to play, and if you want to play a lot, you have to get out and do shows. There will be a point somewhere along the way where I’ll have to plop myself down for a restaurant residency four nights a week. But thankfully I’m not there yet.”
Side-Eye III+ is on sale now.