JAZZ REVIEW : An Abundant, Varied Metheny Concert

Pat Metheny has constantly sought different contexts for his predictably melodic guitar work. He’s explored the music of Ornette Coleman, done straight-ahead jazz with the likes of bassist Dave Holland and drummer Billy Higgins, collaborated with Steve Reich and, most recently, resorted to electronic primal screams on his solo recording “Zero Tolerance for Silence.”

But Metheny’s voice continues to be defined by his own working band, a seven-piece ensemble that’s essentially stayed unchanged for the last seven years. The group’s sound is immediately identifiable with its lyrical, guitar-piano unison themes, the use of Brazilian-styled wordless vocals, layered percussive effects and a strong sense of the dramatic especially when closing a song.

All these characteristics were present in abundance during the Metheny group’s 2 1/2-hour concert at the Greek Theatre on Wednesday. Yet the long set was surprisingly varied as Metheny combined a heavy dose of selections from his past two group albums with older tunes and a sprinkling of new, untitled numbers.

Much of that variety was instrumental. Metheny himself rotated between various electric and acoustic guitars, pulling out a nylon-stringed instrument for Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “How Insensitive.” In addition, the dual vocal team of David Blamires and Mark Ledford doubled as multi-instrumentalists, adding tones from horns, vibes, guitars, an accordion and an array of percussion instruments.

Those who feared that Metheny’s latest CD, “We Live Here,” signaled a descent into insipid accessibility with its backbeat and sampled percussion effects can take heart in the intensity with which that material was attacked, a decided improvement over the studio versions. And Metheny, who appears possessed when he solos, was most vigorous of all, wheeling hard ahead through moments of fervor and rapture.

Occasionally these dramatic builds proved too much of a kind as the guitarist constructed his improvisations in repetitively similar fashion. But the overall impression was that of a musician who’s secure with his identity in a wide range of musical scenarios.