With the release of his first album, Bright Size Life (1975), Pat Metheny revolutionized the traditional "jazz guitar," captivating a new generation of musicians. Throughout his career, he has continuously redefined the genre, exploring new technology and pushing the boundaries of improvisational and sonic potential on his instrument. Collaborating with diverse artists like Steve Reich, Ornette Coleman, Herbie Hancock, Jim Hall, Milton Nascimento, and even David Bowie, Metheny’s body of work spans compositions for solo guitar, small ensembles, electric and acoustic instruments, large orchestras, ballet pieces, and the robotic Orchestrion Project, defying the constraints of any single genre.
In fall 2023, 20-time Grammy Award-winning guitarist and composer Metheny is launching a solo tour which will coincide with a new album release on BMG Modern Recordings, Dream Box. The tour, a first of its kind for Metheny, will feature personal and fan favorites from his nearly 50 year career.
Metheny says: “A few years back, I did a short run of concerts that were not exclusively me and a single guitar, but pretty close. I loved it. Of course, I always have to take it somewhere else too, which by the end of those performances, I did manage to do (no spoilers here!), but what I have planned for the tour following the release of my new recording Dream Box, is something different for me, focused on the various ways of playing solo I have explored across all these decades in an evening that I think will be very special."
Think about these recordings: New Chautauqua—a 1979 recording that almost single-handedly defined an era of instrumental steel-stringed Americana; Zero Tolerance For Silence—a shot across the bow of modern music-making and the companion piece to parallel the Grammy-winning disc Secret Story; The Orchestrion Project, a project so outrageous in conception and execution that even a decade-plus later, it stands apart from any previous ideas of what a solo performer might achieve alone onstage. And then consider and contrast those projects to the two back-to-back Grammy-winning solo baritone guitar recordings, One Quiet Night and What's It All About. Those recordings are not only among the most gorgeous pure solo guitar recordings, but they also introduced an entirely new tuning system that allowed Metheny to create an almost orchestral range from bass to soprano within the realm of a simple steel 6-string guitar.