Pat Menethy returning to MPAC

MORRISTOWN — Twenty-time Grammy winning guitarist Pat Metheny returns to MPAC on Friday, Sept. 28, at 8 p.m.
Performing with him will be Antonio Sanchez, Linda May Han Oh and Gwilym Simcock. Tickets are $49-$99.
Recently inducted into the Downbeat Hall of Fame as its youngest member and only the fourth guitarist (joining Django Reinhardt, Charlie Christian and Wes Montgomery), Metheny will present a range of music from throughout his career.
"This past year is the first time I have taken any real time off since 1994. It was great to be able to practice, do some research and start the process of developing some ideas that I have had cooking for a while," Metheny said.
Joining Pat this year once again will be his long time drummer Antonio Sanchez.
"Antonio is always incredible," Metheny said. "He is one of the greatest drummers of all time and the fact that we have been able to share so much music together over these years is something really special for both of us. And I am so proud of all his recent successes with the "Birdman" score." Antonio's score for the Oscar winning Alejandro G. Innaritu film was nominated for a Golden Globe award and 2016 Grammy Award as well as dozens of other prizes around the world. Pat goes on to say "Being on the bandstand with Antonio is like nothing else I have ever experienced with any other musician. He has the capacity to listen and be inside the music with an intensity that is unique. That focus, combined with his truly otherworldly skills on the kit puts him his own category."
Malaysian/Australian bassist Linda Oh has been extremely active on the New York scene for the past few years, playing with many of the major musicians in the community.
Metheny continues, "I love to follow who the new players around town and I go out often to check out what everyone is doing. The first time I heard Linda, she immediately went to the top of my list of candidates. She has everything I always am looking for; great time, great notes and a lot of imagination. But the most important thing I am always searching for in any musician is an elusive and hard to describe quality that embodies a certain communicative ability to connect - not just to the other musicians, but to the audience as well. Linda has that. When we got together, she was so easy to play with."
Rounding out the ensemble is British pianist Gwilym Simcock, one of the most exciting new pianists to emerge from the UK in many years.
"I first heard about Gwilym on a trip to London a few years back when someone at a radio station gave me his debut record while mentioning to me that he had often spoken of his interest in this music having been sparked by his exposure to one of my early records, again one of the most flattering things imaginable," Metheny said. "When I listened to his CD, I became an instant fan; Gwilym is simply one of the best piano players I have heard in a long, long time."
As to what the performances will be like, Metheny says, "It could really be anything and everything. I have already written a bunch of new music inspired just by the thought of this presentation, but I could also imagine playing only old music one night, or even playing entire albums. I like the idea of keeping it open and letting it become whatever it winds up being over the course of a tour. At this stage, I have so much music and it all is kind of one big thing for me without borders or distinctions between this period or that period. With Antonio, Linda and Gwilym, I think we could and will do a wide range of things from throughout all of it - and maybe uncover what the next period has in store as well."