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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 11, 1981)
PAT METHENY: A talk with the man behind the guitars will W T,'"?9 S,0m says "Plays "ke a Wlna mr°^n trees in heaven." f»JL k b d ton'9ht at 8 80ld-0ut concert in the EMU Ballroom. (This is he first p \ y®ars l^a^ Ballroom has sold out, according to the EMU Cultural dl"r•C,,0n^ wmw MaM Me>ef between shows mEportlancMast OOE-'Your music is definitely rooted in jazz, but with a lot of stuff thrown in. PM: Yeah, that's true. I started out playing in jazz and I really did nothing but that for four or five years ODE: What are some of the other influences'* PM: Pretty much all American music that's happening, rang ing from country music to rock and roll, but I mean, it's primarily jazz in the sense of what I'm most I'm most concerned with is the quality of the improvising High-quality improvising is something that's most often found among jazz musicians That's what I'm especially drawn to The stylistic questions of whether its rock or jazz really don't seem to have that much weight in relation to the quality of the music ODE: How much of the music we've heard was improvised? PM: Well, every song we do has long sections that are im provised We may have some songs that are much more writ ten out than others For exam ple "San Lorenzo," has a lot of written material, but Lyle's (keyboardist Lyle Mays) solo is different every time. The mater ial suggests a different way to play, so that’s really the only restriction. But in another tune, for in stance ■’Offramp,” there’s hardly any written material at all other than the very short little part in the beginning It just ‘It’s up to the listener to bring to the music what he wants.’ depends on the tune And also, we re kind of inter ested in improvising in a differ ent kind of way in that some times the improvising isn’t really linear improvising, like in a strict jazz group, but more textural improvising, like in the "Wichi ta’’ record.(“As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls ”) The idea isn't to make lines, but to make sounds that fit within the context of the tune, and hopefully, our musical sta tement. ODE: As far as musical sta tements are concerned, is there a definite image or theme in each song? PM: No. It’s up to the listener to bring that to the music. ODE: Is there an image in your mind while you're writing it? PM: Possibly, but I would never say that that's what it’s about To me. one of the best things about playing instrumen tal music is that it’s up to the listener to bring to the music what he wants and what his background allows him to see within the music Also, I can listen to the every time I hear it, it conjures up different images and pic tures ODE: Each album is in a dif ferent genre Is there a guiding image throughout each album? PM: I think as different as all the albums are, I think that most people who hear the albums could tell that it’s me playing I mean, that's the thread that ties it all together And also, the albums seem real different now, but I think that looking at the whole catalogue — which I think you have to do with me — it presents an image that’s not quite as diverse as it seems on the surface. It's more or less a long term kind of thing. There’s a possiblity in making an album of doing a little bit of everything. Doing one tune with this guy. and another tune with that guy I never really went for that approach. I thought it would be much more logical to do one album in a certain direc tion rather than trying to mix it up. ODE: It seems like "Wichita Falls” is a lot more subtle, more “laid back" than something like "American Garage ." Is that a direction you’re moving in? PM: I don't really think about directions that much. The only direction I know is that I'm going to get better as a musician and as a player A given album has very little to do with what a mu sician is interested in. That's kind of a drag about the music business. Whatever album you make, people assume that's what you're into this year. I mean, I could have made the albums in really any order. Any of those albums could have been made at pretty much any time, with the possible excep tion of "Wichita" which has a lot to do with technology that’s only been developed recently Whatever the idea on a record is, you try to be as musical about it as you can be It's not really a question of 'we're going to do just that and just this;’ we're going to do a lot and that’s why live performances to me are all that really matter. ‘Cause when we play the long set like this one, it's like everything becomes clear You hear ever ything in relation to everyone else It's obvious when you hear us live, "Wichita Falls" isn’t all that different from "Turnaround" or something from "80-81." They're all con nected They're not that far apart ODE: So do you consider yourself a "live performer?" PM: I personally feel that^ playing live is where music real ly exists. Somehow playing in the studio is a very cold kind of thing. Also, especially since you’re trying to document im provised music in a studio, it’s a difficult thing because the idea is to be as spontaneous as pos sible at improvising, but you know that it’s going to live for ever, or so you think, in history and you want to get the est possible spontaneous documentation of what you do and so that it makes you nervous. The sounds we-get live really don’t translate onto grooves; I mean they're more than two speakers worth. That’s a prob lem too. I don’t think we sound the same on records as we do live just because the technology isn’t there yet. But I think most people who come to hear us live walk away thinking we sound a lot better and that's good. ODE: You just did a two-and a-half hour set and now you're going to do another show the same way. How do you find the energy? PM: No, it’s no problem; the people always bring it. You can go out there and get the feeling that people are really interested in the music and it makes you want to play Also, the level of musicians in this group is so high that it's so much fun to play together that it’s never a prob lem. It's only a drag if you’re sick on the road But you still gotta play two shows and you just don’t feel good. Then it's hard, but tonight everybody's in perfect health so it’s not a problem. ODE: Is the reaction of the audience important to you? PM: Oh, absolutely. The audience has absolute control over how you play. I mean, we can get through a tune or two , but if people aren't really listen ing to the details, you can really tell. If they're not getting off on it. it makes it harder to play.
