The temperature is hovering just around the freezing mark, and many people in this part of northwestern New Jersey are still without power thanks to a surprise snowstorm that hit the area earlier in the week. That notwithstanding, both the heat and lights are on in the comfortable and cozy Newton Theatre on Spring Street in Newton this Saturday March 3, 2018 evening. Here, an excited audience of music lovers awaits a special duet performance by two legendary jazz artists — guitarist Pat Metheny and bassist Steve Swallow.
Metheny, 63, was born in Kansas City into a musical family. Starting on trumpet at the age of eight, he switched to guitar when he turned twelve. By the time he was fifteen, he was working regularly with the best jazz musicians in the area. At eighteen, Metheny became the youngest teacher ever at the University of Miami; by the age of nineteen, he was hired as the youngest teacher ever at Boston’s Berklee College of Music.
Following a three-year stint with vibraphonist Gary Burton — where he was given an opportunity to play alongside bassist Steve Swallow — Metheny reinvented the traditional “jazz guitar” sound for a new generation of players with a series of recordings starting with Bright Size Life, Pat Metheny Group, and American Garage. Over the years, he’s won 20 Grammy awards and is the only person in history to have ever won Grammys in ten different musical categories.
Born in Fair Lawn, NJ, as a child, Steve Swallow, 77, studied piano and trumpet before turning to the stand-up bass at the age of fourteen. While attending prep school, he began to experiment with jazz improvisation. In 1960, he left Yale, where he was studying music composition, and moved to New York City. After joining Art Farmer’s quartet in 1963, Swallow began to compose, and in the 1960s, he began his long-term association with Gary Burton.
In the early ’70s, Swallow switched from the acoustic bass to the electric bass, preferring to play a five-string instrument with a special pick made of copper. During the mid ’70s, he taught at Boston’s Berklee College of Music and, in 1978, became a member of Carla Bley’s band before touring extensively with guitarist John Scofield in the early 1980s.
As an instrumentalist, Swallow has consistently won the electric bass category in Down Beat magazine’s yearly polls ever since the mid ’80s. His unique musical compositions — which broke the mold with novel chord inversions and innovations with regards to musical form — have been covered by such jazz greats as Bill Evans, Chick Corea, Stan Getz, and Jim Hall.
As we make our way out of the frigid Spring Street air and into the inviting Newton Theatre auditorium, we chat with several jazz lovers who are eagerly waiting for tonight’s concert to begin.
First, we chat with Freddy from Ramsey who tells us he’s seen Pat Metheny perform over 250 times during the past three decades. A fan since the 1980s, Freddy reveals he’s gone to Metheny concerts “about ten times a year, for the past 30 years” noting, “when Pat does a tour, I’ll hit all the shows I can from Washington, DC to Boston to Pennsylvania,” before adding, “and I even saw him in London four or five years ago!”
Jokingly referring to himself as “a different kind of ‘Meth head,’” Freddy tells us he’s a bass player who appreciates Metheny for his innovative approach to musical performance and composition, stating, “He appeals to all kinds of musicians — even heavy metal guys. Every concert of his is like a guitarists’ symposium in that so many guitarists show up.”
An avid collector of Metheny recordings, Freddy says, “I have studio versions of every song Pat Metheny has ever recorded, either as the lead artist or as a side man,” exclaiming, “It would take five and a half days of continuous listening to hear all of the recordings!” Freddy also informs us that he was the highest bidder at a local charity event where he won a two-hour music lesson with Pat Metheny in Metheny’s NYC studio.
Revealing, “Tonight is the first time I’ll be seeing the duo of Pat Metheny and Steve Swallow,” Freddy predicts, “It’s going to be beautiful. I think that at this concert with Steve, their friendship and kinship will come through.”
We also chat with Vince from Washington Township, a drummer who reveals, “Pat Metheny’s music has hooked me since his first album. I’ve listened to him ever since I was in high school, and I’ve seen him about a half dozen times.”
Noting, “I love the players Pat plays with — all of them are terrific,” Vince also adds, “and I love his playing, too, because he’s so innovative.”
Vince’s friend, Brian from Washington Township, concurs, stating, “I love his playing, too,” before remarking, “I like and listen to all different types of music, but I’ll always come back to Pat Metheny.”
The house lights dim and the crowd starts to hoot and holler as Pat Metheny takes the stage, straps on his guitar, and grabs hold of a microphone. Talking about his musical heroes, Metheny explains, “When I was eighteen, I joined the Gary Burton Quartet where I got to play with two of my favorite bass players — Charlie Haden and Steve Swallow.”
Stating, “90% of everything I do comes from Steve,” Metheny acknowledges, “I’ve learned so many things from him.” At this point, Metheny introduces his musical colleague to this avid crowd of contemporary jazz lovers saying, “Please welcome Steve Swallow!”
The audience cheers and, as purple and blue lights illuminate the stage, Metheny and Swallow begin to play an original Swallow composition from Swallow’s early days with the Gary Burton band entitled, “Como En Vietnam.”
As they perform this lively jazz classic, Swallow picks and simultaneously strums his bass, thus creating a unique background part which includes both a bass line and chords.
Metheny’s nimble fingers caress the fingerboard of his guitar as he brilliantly picks and strums over top of Swallow’s accompaniment.
Faces smiling, the two musicians weave their musical tapestry, chords flowing from Metheny’s and Swallow’s respective instruments and out into the awaiting ears of the audience.
Next, comes “Olhus De Gato,” a Gary Burton bossa nova piece where Metheny alternates playing with his pick and picking with his fingers, holding his pick between his teeth when he’s not using it. Audience members listen with rapt attention, taking in the sounds and soul of these players as their melodies, harmonies, and rhythms fill the room with world-class jazz.
Performing with their eyes closed, the percussive nature of the piece they’re playing creates a dance between their two instruments.
Metheny solos brilliantly, choosing his sequence of tones and rhythms for his improvisation like a visual artist chooses shapes and colors for a painting. Swallow accompanies Metheny’s lead, both musicians completely in sync as the piece comes to a satisfying conclusion.
Changing the mood with the introduction of a ballad, the musicians perform their unique rendition of Keith Jarrett’s “Coral.” As they play, Metheny’s guitar and Swallow’s electric bass speak to one another in an artful conversation. Here, audience members have an opportunity to witness an artistic exchange like no other in this prime listening environment which feels more like a living room than a concert hall.
The music expressing what no other art form can through rhythm, timbre, and dynamics, melodies and harmonies are spun from wood and string, ultimately evoking spontaneous applause from the audience in response to the art of these master instrumentalists!
Next up is an intricate arrangement of Rodgers and Hart’s “My Romance.” On this number, Swallow’s bass walks and strolls along while accompanying Metheny’s nimble and innovative lead, the pair taking the song where it needs to go — ever forward and shining brightly — as they meander through this classic composition.
Starting softly with a samba feel, the duo gently segues into Antônio Carlos Jobim’s “How Insensitive,” Swallow putting on his spectacles as a prelude to digging into this well-known number.
Taking the pick from his mouth, Metheny solos, the sweet sounds of his guitar complementing Swallow’s strolling bass. Both players gently meander up, down, and around the melody, taking the audience on a musical journey before slowing down, pausing, and ending with the emphatic strum of a single final chord.
Picking up the tempo, Metheny and Swallow perform Milt Jackson’s “Bags’ Groove.” Audience members tap their toes along to this infectious tune that entices listeners to join in on the revelry. Some bop their heads back and forth in easy agreement while others swing side to side.
Some have their eyes closed — like Metheny and Swallow themselves — taking the flowing energy in through their hearts and souls. Others, however, listen with their eyes glued to the performers, following their every move, inhaling the music, breathing with the musicians onstage, and spontaneously applauding when moved to do so.
At other times, these same listeners are completely silent, soaking up every drop of sound — the irresistible musical improvisation pulling in the audience as only great jazz can, functioning as music to experience, alive and ever-changing, and in some ways unique from anything which has come before it or is yet to come.
Performing the Steve Swallow piece that Metheny says “started an underground revolution” in terms of its unique approach to jazz composition, the pair performs “Falling Grace.”
Alternating between finger picking and picking, Swallow watches Metheny as he accompanies him. As the duo performs, they not only change up the feel from the well-known Gary Burton rendition of the song, but they deconstruct the piece into its disparate parts — focusing on rhythm, harmony, and improvisation — before Metheny finally plays the novel melody at the end.
Following large applause, Metheny chats with the audience about the prior selection of songs before moving on to “The Gentle Rain.” Lights reflect off the tailpiece of Metheny’s guitar as the gentle sound of this jazzy tune emanates throughout the theater.
As Metheny inventively plays, Swallow’s bass tells his own story for him, making his point and counterpoint underneath Metheny’s singing guitar.
Metheny switches from electric to acoustic guitar and vigorously strums the rhythmic introduction to a unique arrangement of George Gershwin’s “Summertime” as Swallow’s resonant-sounding bass handles the melody.
Playing high on his instrument — and thus sounding more like an electric guitar than an electric bass — Swallow is featured on a chordal solo. As he looks over at Metheny, he sees his partner strumming his way through the song with rapid fire chords, reharmonizing the piece and creating an innovative and beautiful realization of this classic composition from the Great American Songbook.
Metheny’s own “Message to a Friend” changes the mood. A quiet, reflective piece, the music begins with Swallow taking the melody first before trading it over to Metheny. As Pat’s beautiful clear guitar sound wafts out over the crowd, he strums at times with a rapid back-and-forth tremolo effect. As the duo continues to play, their music climbs ever higher, reaching straight into the audience’s minds and hearts.
Picking up the tempo, Metheny switches back over to his electric guitar for another of his original compositions, “Question and Answer.”
Moving to a shuffle feel, Swallow plays up and down the scale as he solos and — before the number is over — Metheny manages to achieve a unique heavenly sound from his guitar by picking the strings of the instrument between the bridge and the end piece.
A duly impressed audience member shouts out, “Yeah!” and the crowd stands and cheers while Metheny and Swallow take a bow, hug each other, and then exit the stage.
While the audience continues to applaud, the duo returns for an encore of Swallow’s “I’m Your Pal,” the colleagues playing for each other as much as for the audience before launching into a second encore number — Gil Evans’ “Las Vegas Tango.” Sounding somewhat akin to the Gladys Knight R&B number, “I’ve Got to Use My Imagination,” Swallow uses his wrist for muting the strings as he plays with his pick and rhythmically strums chords. Contrasting with his partner, Metheny picks dissonant chords before playing some classy overtone harmonics on this bluesy piece.
Once again, an excited audience member shouts out an emphatic “Yeah!” and the crowd rises to its feet to witness yet another heartfelt Metheny/Swallow hug.
As the crowd makes its way out of the theater, we catch up with two of the audience members with whom we spoke before the show.
Whereas Vince, the drummer from Washington Township remarks, “It was beautiful!” his friend, Brian, also from Washington Township, exclaims, “It was one of the best concerts yet!”
Before heading back into the night air on Spring Street, we chat with one more audience member, Dave, from Parsippany. When asked how he enjoyed tonight’s program with Pat Metheny and Steve Swallow, Dave smiles and characterizes the performance with a gentle whisper commenting, “Oh my God — it was beautiful — like Christmas!”
To learn more about Pat Metheny, please go to patmetheny.com. For information on upcoming concerts at the Newton Theatre — including Mark Farner on March 23, Patty Smyth and Scandal on May 4, The Yardbirds on May 5, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes on May 10, and Canned Heat on June 30 — please go to thenewtontheatre.com.
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