TV REVIEW : ‘Pat Metheny Special’ Covers the Plectrum Spectrum

“Pat Metheny Special No. 2” is the continuation of a live performance by the guitarist; the first segment was aired last year. The second, running 48 minutes, will be seen tonight on Bravo at 7 p.m., with a repeat at midnight, and two more showings April 15 at 3 p.m. and 11 p.m.

The sonic artillery at Metheny’s disposal takes in both regular and solid body guitars, plectrum and finger styles, and the reverberant guitar synthesizer. His adventurous work, though well received in the United States, has made him a virtual adopted son in Montreal, where wild-fire acclaim was accorded him at the annual jazz festivals and has enabled him to appear in innumerable settings there.

Confusingly, this second special begins by showing him very briefly with such old associates as Gary Burton, Jack De Johnette and Charlie Haden; there are even momentary glimpses of Ornette Coleman and Carmen McRae, but the body of the program finds him at the Montreal club known as L’Air du Temps, backed simply by Steve Swallow on electric bass and Bob Moses on drums.

Metheny’s technical wizardry and potent improvisational attack are beyond dispute; nevertheless, it is somewhat unsettling to hear him rattle off 400 to 500 notes per minute in a race horse tempo on “All the Things You Are,” and far more engaging to study his lyrical interpretation of Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “How Insensitive.” The title, by the way, could well be applicable to Moses’ clickety-click drumming on this number.

The three-man instrumentation becomes a little tedious over the long haul; one wishes for a piano or horn to offer contrast. Still, the best moments offer enough first-rate Metheny to satisfy his substantial following.