The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
  1. #1

    User Info Menu

    I've just come back from this event and wanted to share my impressions : this concert in the Alte Oper (Opera House) in FfM had been cancelled twice due to the pandemic and I was really looking forward to seeing/hearing one of my fav. players in a new setting. It was interesting . A full house, an eager + enthusiastic public and a really nice venue- can't get much better than that ! He had two young players with him, Chris Fishman on keys and Joey Dyson on drums. However, only the drummer played a bigger part in the group, had more room to stretch and to show off his great talent. Chris Fishman more or less supplied the canvas for the other two, having to take care of the basslines, synth pads, sparse piano parts and he had only one (!) feature number on the Hammond organ + one longer piano solo. PM has often said that he usually plays off the drummers in his groups and tonight was no exception. The tow really got along ! His main guitar was the Slaman hollowbody , the intro was played on his Picasso guitar and on 3 or 4 tunes he used his Roland synth guitar. The material was mostly well known (to me and many others in the hall) older material, a couple of them brushed up with different tempos but still easily recognizable. The tone he got was a lot sharper and somehow more acoustic in nature which might have come from the single coil pickup in that Slaman guitar. No FX except some reverb as expected. Two solo spots with a nylon string were put in to calm things down in between the more up-tempo and driving numbers. Over all I felt like he tried to emulate the sound of his large band with a minimalist lineup, employing sequencer tracks on a couple of tunes and also using parts of his mechanical /computer-controlled mallet instruments to create different sonic textures. I would have liked to hear some more "classic" organ-trio -ish material with some more interaction between the three players but apparently this is not his intention with this lineup. Never-the-less the 2 hours were entertaining and I'm glad I went and spent the money - the music was great and all but I did not leave the Opera as elevated and inspired as I did in the past when I saw him (maybe 3 or 4 times over the past 35 years or so) with his large group or one time together with Michael Brecker ....

  2.  

    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

    User Info Menu

    Thanks for posting.

    I saw him twice in the 80's--first when his PMG was fairly new, and second when he was debuting the Roland synth stuff. Great shows both times.

    Unfortunately I had to miss a show he put on recently an hour away from me. Timing was bad. I listen to the Side-eye album A LOT--very nice stuff. The colors he gets out of his music even with such a small group are incredible.

    And his last studio album From This Place is incredible as well. I would like to see him perform this (and some of his older works) with a full orchestra. It's practically begging for such a performance.

    He is one of the small group of artists who just get better with age.

  4. #3

    User Info Menu

    Thanks for sharing your impressions. I am still on the fence about buying tickets. Only not-so-desirable seating left...

    Btw. I saw the Avishai Cohen Trio last weekend. No guitars to be seen/heard but wow, that was amazing nevertheless. Super energetic.

  5. #4

    User Info Menu

    Interestingly enough the concert in Dusseldorf yesterday evening was quite different from Frankfurt - having read gitman's comment. Chris Fishman played many solos last night - almost in every tune.
    All in all it was a great concert, Pat was in great form - all his solos had this great narrative structure und very highly melodic.
    BTW for us guitar nerds, Pat doesn't play his Slaman anymore, it's the new Ibanez PM model which also has the Charlie Christian pickup and therefore looks a bit similar.

  6. #5

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by Gearhead
    Interestingly enough the concert in Dusseldorf yesterday evening was quite different from Frankfurt - having read gitman's comment. Chris Fishman played many solos last night - almost in every tune.
    All in all it was a great concert, Pat was in great form - all his solos had this great narrative structure und very highly melodic.
    BTW for us guitar nerds, Pat doesn't play his Slaman anymore, it's the new Ibanez PM model which also has the Charlie Christian pickup and therefore looks a bit similar.
    Yeah, I thought he was playing his Ibanez CC these days. I came across a recent pic just the other day showing him with this guitar.

    I find Chris Fishman to be a very good accompanist for Pat on the Side-eye record, however I can't help but miss Lyle Mays. Lyle was more than just an accompanist--really a soulmate for Pat, and very influential re' Pat's compositional style. (Listen to Lyle's solo work for a good idea.)

    I also miss Jaco on the older songs...no keyboard bass is gonna replace Jaco.

    All of Pat's collaborators are top-notch of course.