'Orchestrion' entertains; raises host of questions
Published in Berkshire Eagle, 10/13/10
By Jeremy D. Goodwin
GREAT BARRINGTON—It would be easy to say Pat Metheny's show at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center on Sunday was an impressive, entertaining spectacle. That the sight of the celebrated jazz guitarist playing in front of a mess of carefully prepared contraptions—an "orchestrion" of musical instruments, remotely controlled by solenoids and pneumatic triggers—created a sense of something special, something unlikely to be repeated. (Except for the next Metheny tour; after the effort and innovation he invested in the current project, he is understandably interested in building upon it for another orchestrion-related release.)
It would be easy to say the elements of the orchestrion itself were a pleasure to watch, many of them stacked up in a junkyard jumble at the rear of the stage in a piece of mad hatter sculpture that simultaneously recalled the Grateful Dead's mid-1970's "wall of sound," a Fritz Lang futuristic fantasy, and a steampunk bachelor's hidden attic opus.
It would be easy to say there was a certain joy in the realization that all of the sound coming from onstage was being created acoustically, by a physical object plucking a string, banging a drum, depressing the key of a piano, or applying pressure to an accordion. That this seems, at first blush, an inherently superior experience to hearing pre-recorded tracks triggered in the moment, onstage, by a laptop or digital loop.
It would be easy to say the live recitation of the entire Orchestrion album felt like it revealed the intensely composed piece in a more vivid, breathing form than the version on record. That it was fun to watch Metheny, after completing this suite, employing his invention as a backing band for some partially improvised jams. That he seemed in complete control of a situation that could have easily degenerated into chaos, and that the control seems to have been won through months of intensely exacting effort and innovation.
GREAT BARRINGTON—It would be easy to say Pat Metheny's show at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center on Sunday was an impressive, entertaining spectacle. That the sight of the celebrated jazz guitarist playing in front of a mess of carefully prepared contraptions—an "orchestrion" of musical instruments, remotely controlled by solenoids and pneumatic triggers—created a sense of something special, something unlikely to be repeated. (Except for the next Metheny tour; after the effort and innovation he invested in the current project, he is understandably interested in building upon it for another orchestrion-related release.)
It would be easy to say the elements of the orchestrion itself were a pleasure to watch, many of them stacked up in a junkyard jumble at the rear of the stage in a piece of mad hatter sculpture that simultaneously recalled the Grateful Dead's mid-1970's "wall of sound," a Fritz Lang futuristic fantasy, and a steampunk bachelor's hidden attic opus.
It would be easy to say there was a certain joy in the realization that all of the sound coming from onstage was being created acoustically, by a physical object plucking a string, banging a drum, depressing the key of a piano, or applying pressure to an accordion. That this seems, at first blush, an inherently superior experience to hearing pre-recorded tracks triggered in the moment, onstage, by a laptop or digital loop.
It would be easy to say the live recitation of the entire Orchestrion album felt like it revealed the intensely composed piece in a more vivid, breathing form than the version on record. That it was fun to watch Metheny, after completing this suite, employing his invention as a backing band for some partially improvised jams. That he seemed in complete control of a situation that could have easily degenerated into chaos, and that the control seems to have been won through months of intensely exacting effort and innovation.
It would be easy to say a packed house enjoyed a two-hours-plus show that it found frequently thrilling. That it was a show worth seeing. That excited conversations about the affair spilled out of the theatre, onto the sidewalks and into the streets of downtown, as show-goers compared notes and tried to make sense of what they had seen.
It would be easy to say Pat Metheny achieved exactly what he set out to achieve in this concert—and that this may be a measure of success as useful as any other.
What is hard for me to say is that it was worth it.
We saw someone create for himself a difficult puzzle and then solve it. But, to cut to the heart of the matter, was this accomplishment superior to having a large band of human musicians play the same compositions, note for note? Or is it really a given that playing along with, in effect, a very sophisticated and nuanced player piano—much of the music came from pre-planned sequencing that triggered the live execution of musical passages—is so clearly superior to playing along with pre-recorded tracks?
He proved he can do it. And it was great fun to watch. And judged strictly on its musical merits (seemingly the last item in any discussion of this project—this concert review included), it was a successful display of a certain type of carefully planned, guitar-led instrumental jazz that feels informed by the impulses of classic, 1970's-era progressive rock and even displays some New Age inflections. And Metheny is in complete control of his impressive guitar technique.
But this is a case where the medium seems more important than the message—it feels like we are meant to find this project’s success not in the music itself but in the feat of engineering that produces it.
It would also be very exciting to watch a guitarist play all of Metheny’s parts while, say, suspended upside down from a trapeze mounted to a ship sailing through a hurricane, in the dark. If he nailed all the complicated changes, and successfully proved he could make honest-to-goodness music in those circumstances, it would be thrilling in its way. But he could have just done it on dry land. With the light on.
It’s hard for me to say where that leaves us with respect to Metheny and his orchestrion. But it’s easy to say it’s a question worth asking.
It would be easy to say Pat Metheny achieved exactly what he set out to achieve in this concert—and that this may be a measure of success as useful as any other.
What is hard for me to say is that it was worth it.
We saw someone create for himself a difficult puzzle and then solve it. But, to cut to the heart of the matter, was this accomplishment superior to having a large band of human musicians play the same compositions, note for note? Or is it really a given that playing along with, in effect, a very sophisticated and nuanced player piano—much of the music came from pre-planned sequencing that triggered the live execution of musical passages—is so clearly superior to playing along with pre-recorded tracks?
He proved he can do it. And it was great fun to watch. And judged strictly on its musical merits (seemingly the last item in any discussion of this project—this concert review included), it was a successful display of a certain type of carefully planned, guitar-led instrumental jazz that feels informed by the impulses of classic, 1970's-era progressive rock and even displays some New Age inflections. And Metheny is in complete control of his impressive guitar technique.
But this is a case where the medium seems more important than the message—it feels like we are meant to find this project’s success not in the music itself but in the feat of engineering that produces it.
It would also be very exciting to watch a guitarist play all of Metheny’s parts while, say, suspended upside down from a trapeze mounted to a ship sailing through a hurricane, in the dark. If he nailed all the complicated changes, and successfully proved he could make honest-to-goodness music in those circumstances, it would be thrilling in its way. But he could have just done it on dry land. With the light on.
It’s hard for me to say where that leaves us with respect to Metheny and his orchestrion. But it’s easy to say it’s a question worth asking.
