Pat Metheny, Detroit Jazz Festival

[Mark Stryker]

Pat Metheny has been named artist-in-residence for the 2015 Detroit Jazz Festival. I had a nice 30-minute conversation with him Monday. Surprisingly,given how long I've been doing this, I had never spoken with him before. Here's one tidbit that didn't make it into the story that I thought I'd share here: I told him that I first heard him live in spring 1986 in Urbana as part of the "Song X" tour with Ornette Coleman, Charlie Haden Jack DeJohnette and Ornette's son Denardo. Pat told me that the next night on that tour the band was in East Lansing and played an encore lasting -- wait for it -- 1 hour and 25 minutes. When they came back out for the encore, Pat looked at his watch and started to play; the next time he looked at his watch it was an hour and 25 minutes later. He noted that when the band started the encore the house was full, but when he looked up at the end "there were about four people left." I asked if a bootleg of that concert had surfaced and he said he wasn't aware of one. I wonder ...

http://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/music/2015/03/30/pat-metheny-detroit-jazz-fest/70679148/

[CJ Shearn]

Great story Mark. Pat's views on bootlegs have changed massively over the years as you probably know vis a vis his comments on YT videos, but he knows there are fans who love the music so much and the evolution of the music that if fans have older stuff for historical documentation for personal use he seems to be ok with it. I would love official documents of the Song X tour, as well as the last "official" Group tour where they toured as a quartet in 2009.