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A half century on, the 71-year-old Metheny\u2019s sense of jazz exploration remains tireless and unending. But one notable perspective has shifted. Instead of being the youthful prot\u00e9g\u00e9 mentored by jazz masters, the guitarist is now playing the role of elder to a band of young, but industrious artists in a band called Side-Eye \u2014 specifically this year, an augmented version titled Side-Eye III+. That\u2019s the ensemble that will bring Metheny back to Lexington this week for a concert at the Lexington Opera House.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe original part of Side-Eye\u2019s conception, for me, was that I was the beneficiary of getting hired by older musicians at different points along the way \u2014 starting when I was 14 or 15 years old, actually \u2014 and how I really benefited from that. That includes the years that I got to spend with Gary Burton and Steve Swallow. I also spent a lot of time playing with Roy Haynes, Sonny Rollins and Herbie Hancock \u2014musicians who were really the generation, or even two generations, above me. That\u2019s a big part of what this community is about.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cSo it\u2019s not just now. This sort of began a while back, when a group of musicians kind of a certain generation \u2014 and that would be Brad Mehldau, Christian McBride, Antonio S\u00e1nchez, Bill Stewart, Larry Grenadier; all those guys are very close to the same age \u2014 found me in a way. I mean, they all looked me up and were looking for a chance to play back when they were emerging, and found something in whatever my thing had been up to that point that resonated with them.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Side-Eye began to take shape with trio concerts in 2019 that surfaced on a 2021 recording, \u201cSide-Eye NYC (V1.IV),\u201d that combined new music with vintage Metheny compositions. As touring intensified internationally, the Side-Eye lineup shifted to teaming Metheny with drummer Joe Dyson and keyboardist Chris Fishman, both of whom will serve as the core of the band Metheny will play with in Lexington.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cChris Fishman and Joe Dyson are the kinds of musicians that I dream about \u2014 you know, that can play anything,\u201d Metheny said. \u201cThey\u2019re also willing not to play what they can play, which is a weird concept. A lot of people get to the point where they\u2019re proficient and then they just want to be proficient. Both Joe and Chris have a certain kind of inner conception and discipline that allows them to also play very simply and that\u2019s the hardest thing for me to find.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cBut as it turns out, my idea originally of it being, \u2018Well, I\u2019m going to hire younger musicians,\u2019 is ironic at this stage of the game because pretty much everybody is younger than me now.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As suggested by the name Side-Eye III+, which is also the title of Metheny\u2019s newest album, the sound, style and personnel of the band has expanded. On varying tunes, the album adds bass, accordion, harp, percussion and a full vocal ensemble (in Lexington, the Side-Eye group will be a quintet with the addition of bassist Jermaine Paul and percussionist\/vocalist Leonard Patton.) What results is a fascinating mix of new and familiar Metheny strategies.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cUrban and Western,\u201d for instance, begins with a relaxed guitar groove colored by a hint of Wes Montgomery lyricism before the music boils over into gospel jubilation with help from the vocal team. But longer and more melodically pensive pieces that place Metheny\u2019s darting guitar runs around rich keyboard and percussion passages can\u2019t help but bring the late \u201980s music of the Pat Metheny Group to mind.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n