POP : When Simon’s ‘Saints’ Come Marching In

Paul Simon and cross-cultural musical travel became practically synonymous with “Graceland.”

While that landmark 1986 album had an expeditionary theme with its reach into South African pop styles, Simon the songwriter remained anchored in his own familiar turf. For the most part, “Graceland” offers character studies and relationship vignettes revolving around central figures not far removed from Simon himself: a contemporary, urban American with an outlook a little bemused and a little dejected (though fighting to avoid succumbing to world-weariness). Simon’s hangdog sensibility collided with the pulsing vibrancy of his African collaborators, resulting in an album brimming with a warm, encouraging sense of renewal and possibility.

On his latest album, “The Rhythm of the Saints,” which came out almost a year ago, Simon’s latest stylistic explorations seemed to have reshaped his entire approach to songwriting. Swept along by the liquid flow of the Brazilian rhythms he had tapped, Simon the songwriter stopped taking clear snapshots of slices of experience. Instead, the “Saints” songs are more like dreams and meditations, with fragmented images, abstract bits of narrative and philosophic ruminations taking the place of clear story lines or detailed character sketches. It also is a melodically diffuse work for a proven pop craftsman such as Simon.

“Saints” won’t set listeners bouncing or humming the way almost all of “Graceland” did. But it does mount a sustained and thoughtful probe into questions of faith that also were prominent on “Graceland.”

On that album, the dark omens of the world-scanning opening salvo, “The Boy in the Bubble,” quickly gave way to more hopeful, personal-scale songs like the title track. When Simon sang, “Maybe I’ve a reason to believe we all will be received in Graceland,” he wasn’t talking about tourist-trap hospitality, but about the prospects for an ultimate happy ending.

“The Rhythm of the Saints” finds him caught again between ill omens and redemptive signs, between his losses and his perseverance, between his world-weariness and his hopes.

Last month, Simon and his 17-member band (including players from Africa and South America, as well as such veteran American session pros as saxophonist Michael Brecker, drummer Steve Gadd, and keyboards player Richard Tee) played to an estimated 750,000 fans in New York City’s Central Park, plus a home cable TV audience. By generating some good publicity for his hometown’s most famous patch of green, maybe Simon worked a small redemption. For a change, you could hear the words “Central Park” and think “concert,” not “jogger.”

Who: Paul Simon.

When: Saturday, Sept. 28, at 7:30 p.m.

Where: Pacific Amphitheatre, 100 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa.

Whereabouts: San Diego Freeway to Fairview exit, then go south.

Wherewithal: $38.50, $27.50, $19.25.

Where to Call: (714) 546-4876.