Pat Metheny: What’s It All About

Occasionally, Pat Metheny goes “into the cave” and emerges with some personal statement that goes against the grain of his more commercial instincts. Sometimes it’s something so uncompromising and off-putting, as in the case of his harshly dissonant skronkfest Zero Tolerance for Silence, that it appears to be a bid for career suicide. Or it might be something visionary with a grandiose sweep, like last year’s sprawling one-man show, Orchestrion. This time out, it’s something so intimate and stunningly beautiful it would appear the boy from Lee’s Summit, Missouri, has been touched by angels. A sublime revue of relaxed solo guitar interpretations of familiar and fetching pop melodies from the 60s (“Cherish,” “Alfie,” “Rainy Days and Sundays,” “And I Love Her”), What’s It All About has Metheny performing on a warm-sounding baritone guitar that allows him to cover his own bass lines, lending a rich, orchestral texture to the proceedings. And he makes Zen-like use of space with his amazing 42-string Pikasso guitar on a stirring interpretation of “The Sound of Silence.” With strategically placed microphones in a resonant space, and just a hint of reverb, this is also one of the most gorgeous recordings of the year.