From Six Strings to 42--Metheny’s Master of Guitar

Few guitarists have a sound as recognizable and attractive as that of Pat Metheny. No matter which of the half-dozen different guitars he was playing Friday at the Universal Amphitheatre, the sound was instantly heard as his and his alone.

Metheny’s sound has as much to do with context and his approach to his instrument as it does with tonal quality. In more than 2 1/2 hours onstage, he performed a wide variety of material from his nearly 25-year recording history, stamping each number with consistent individualism.

Even as he opened the evening with a solo performance on a massive 42-string guitar, Metheny displayed familiar characteristics: warm tones, smooth harmonics and rhythmic fluidity. At different times, the music sounded as if it were coming from a harp, a piano or the Japanese koto. Playing the instrument in two-handed style as if it were a keyboard, he demonstrated an amazing ambidextrous technique that didn’t once sacrifice musicality in favor of ability.

Backed by his longtime quartet mates, keyboardist-composer Lyle Mays, bassist Steve Rodby and drummer Paul Wertico--and a trio of percussionists, two of whom doubled on guitar, trumpet and vocals--Metheny went on to explore his personal fusion of mainstream, rock and world beat. He showed hot, electric chops on the recent “The Story Within the Story”; shifting, acoustic moodiness on the older “Have You Heard?”; and sumptuous, improvisational abilities on Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “How Insensitive.” Metheny’s more familiar pieces--including the bossa nova-flavored guitar-synthesizer anthem “Are You Going With Me?”--were met with standing ovations.

Metheny used his older material to frame a long, uninterrupted suite from his ambitious current release, “Imaginary Day.” These thoughtful, occasionally convoluted pieces, based frequently on grand, resounding themes, carried touches of Asian, Spanish and hip-hop influences all woven together in an involved narrative style. The tunes’ emotional range and content, though received less resoundingly by the crowd, suggest that Metheny’s musical vision continues to expand as he stays focused on his own individualism.