Jazz Review : Pat Metheny Dishes Up a Smorgasbord

“This is Wave Music,” read the banner over the Universal Amphitheatre entrance for the Pat Metheny concert Saturday night.

A potentially ominous sign.

Did it say something about which Metheny would show up? Would it be the gifted jazz guitarist who, in the last decade, has teamed up with Ornette Coleman and Joshua Redman?

Would it be the thoughtful composer-player whose “Secret Story” with the London Symphony was a remarkable blend of jazz and world music in a symphonic setting?

Or would it be the leader of a group that has been a contemporary fusion staple for more than 15 years?

The presence of the sign--which actually indicated radio station KTWV’s involvement with the event--seemed to favor the latter.

But Metheny had bigger plans in mind. Popular fusion player he may be, but he has never, even in his most commercial outings, produced musical wallpaper. Making his first Southland appearance in several years with the ensemble he refers to as the Group, he served up a long, lavish musical feast that tried--not always successfully--to encompass the full scope of his varied interests.

There was a set of selections from the group’s new album “We Live Here.” There was something from “Secret Story” and a work composed for a Redman recording. There was a theme song written by Metheny and long-time keyboardist Lyle Mays for the film, “The Falcon and the Snowman.” There was a small, sweet moment in which Metheny played a spare, deeply intimate version of “How Insensitive” in memory of its composer, the late Antonio Carlos Jobim.

And, with a nearly three-hour program to fill, there was ample room for extended soloing from Mays, drummer Paul Wertico, bassist Steve Rodby and percussionist Luis Conte.

There’s no faulting Metheny’s affection for this band and his continuing desire to return to it, regardless of a multiplicity of outside projects. He has worked with Mays for 18 years, and most of the other members, with the exception of Conte, have been with him for a decade or more. The result is the kind of intuitive, almost symbiotic interplay between instrumentalists that only comes after years of working and interacting together.

When Metheny was performing selections from the group’s popular repertoire--not just from the current album, but random pieces from the five previous albums--the music settled into a comfortable, free-flowing groove. Melodic, rhythmically strong and easy to listen to, it was the music that drew the greatest response from the rapturously enthusiastic overflow crowd.

But there were problems. This was music that, for all its superficial appeal and technical facility, often merely skimmed the surface. At its worst, it edged dangerously close to showtime. When Mays passionately lifted one shoulder beneath his white poet’s shirt and flung his teeming head of hair from one side to the other, when drummer Wertico dramatically bashed every sound-producing device within reach, and Metheny took the wide-legged stance of a heavy metal lead guitarist, the program suddenly had more to do with mood than musical exploration.

In the case of many acts that wouldn’t make much difference. But it does make a difference with Metheny, who clearly has abilities that extend beyond a good portion of the group’s regular music.

Curiously, and probably appropriately, it was the compositions not associated with the Metheny group that had a richer sense of energy and a fuller charge of creative electricity. Although the group obviously could not provide the orchestral densities of “Secret Story,” and the rhythm section lacked the subtle touch to do complete justice to a Brazilian samba, it was nonetheless more fascinating to hear them stretch their skills in these pieces.

Fortunately, Metheny seems to be aware of the distinctions between the disparate facets of his music. His boyish demeanor does not diminish or conceal a probing musical intelligence. Perhaps more than any other jazz performer who comes to mind, he has had equal success in the commercial as well as the creative worlds. It is to his credit that he is attempting the difficult task of combining both these aspects of his life and work in his current performing schedule.