While jazz fusion’s Pat Metheny Unity Group entertained a sold-out Meijer Gardens crowd that left early, rockabilly legend Bill Kirchen had folks dancing at an Ada restaurant. (Review, photo gallery)
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By John Sinkevics
LocalSpins.com
Good thing traffic was light.
Comparing world-class guitarists can be a tricky endeavor, especially when they’re playing the same night but separated by about eight miles.
That was the challenge Wednesday, with iconic jazz fusion guitarist Pat Metheny and his Unity Group band playing Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park at nearly the same time as Austin-based rockabilly legend Bill Kirchen, who was revving things up in an outdoor show at Riverhouse Ada in Ada.
(And that doesn’t even count up-and-coming blues guitar phenom Jarekus Singleton playing the 97LAV Blues on the Mall series at Rosa Parks Circle in downtown Grand Rapids.)
The bottom line is that both of these musicians – Metheny at 59 and Kirchen at 66 – are virtuosos who’ve never stood still during their careers, always adding to their repertoire and pushing the boundaries of their chosen genres and instruments.
Kirchen may have said it best when he told me: “We all set out to do what we do, to do the best that we can, but it’s impossible to compare two different people in different disciplines. There are so many guitar players I look up to and say, ‘How did they do that?’ There’s always something to learn.”
Translation: Just kick back and enjoy what these upper-echelon guitarists do, because they’ve learned VERY well over the course of their long and illustrious careers.
DUETS WITH BRUCE HORNSBY AND MASTERFUL MUSICIANSHIP
In the case of Metheny, who launched the evening at Meijer Gardens by playing a couple of songs in semi-acoustic fashion with another stellar, high-profile musician, pianist Bruce Hornsby (who performed the duet on dulcimer), it was a glorious, wide-ranging display of jazz fusion accompanied by a top-drawer band – saxophonist Chris Potter, drummer Antonio Sanchez, bassist Ben Williams and keyboard player/multi-instrumentalist Giulio Carmassi.
Much of the evening was devoted to selections from the band’s album, “Kin,” released earlier this year, with Metheny showing off his wide-ranging and nimble finger- and fret-work … and a seemingly endless supply of sonic textures.
Granted, the Meijer Gardens vibe was way laid-back, not that the improvisational display wasn’t impressive or dynamic or passionate, but it’s apparently difficult to hold the attention of a large crowd with a lengthy, mostly instrumental performance: More than half of the sold-out, 1,900-capacity amphitheater had emptied out by the time Metheny and crew wrapped up the three-hour night of nonstop music.
It also didn’t help that Metheny barely engaged the crowd, reserving his comments while I was there to merely introducing band members from the stage.
But the musicianship was beyond reproach, with Metheny flawlessly leading his crew — as well as performing another duet with Hornsby (who performed an opening set with drummer Sonny Emory) — through stunning jams with a distinctive Metheny milieu, many of the songs slowly building to atmospheric crescendos.
PICNIC-STYLE ATMOSPHERE AND ROCKABILLY CHARM
About eight miles away, another artist was also demonstrating top-notch musicianship – and mastery of tones and tastefulness on guitar – but in considerably different fashion, in a much more relaxed and upbeat environment, with near-constant audience interaction.
The Texas-based Kirchen (an Ann Arbor native who plays The Ark on Thursday) is nothing if not a story-teller, not only in introducing his rollicking rockabilly and country-blues tunes, but in performing the entertaining songs themselves with bandmates David Carroll on bass and Rick Richards on drums: “Hammer of the Honky-Tonk Gods,” “Seeds and Stems,” “Talkin’ About Chicken,” during which Kirchen made his guitar sound like, well, a chicken.
It all went over famously with the small but enthusiastic crowd of about 150 or so gathered on the lawn next to Riverhouse Ada, which hosts occasional outdoor concerts in this charming spot along the Thornapple River.
Essentially, it was an outdoor picnic with a barbecue, make-shift outdoor bars and folks pulling up lawn chairs and blankets to applaud, dance and chuckle to Kirchen’s engaging set, which included the down-to-earth guitarist bringing members of the Fauxgrass bluegrass band, Junior Valentine and even event promoter Jerry Douthett onto the stage to sing and perform his songs.
(Photographer Kelly Loucks Wilson passed on this tidbit, too: “Grand Rapids’ Bobby Ballard was on a 30-year mission at last night’s outdoor concert. He carried a note to Kirchen saying, ‘Hey Bill, I still owe you 10 English pounds from the cab ride in London. I’m here to pay you back.’ Ballard, formerly with the Larry Ballard Band, met Kirchen when both were on tour in the early 80s: Ballard playing guitar with Brenda Lee and Kirchen with Commander Cody. Kirchen came through with a cab ride when Ballard found himself stranded after a performance.”)
“Bill Kirchen rocks,” an ebullient fan shouted during the “backyard party” at one point. Indeed, he does.
So as unsatisfying at it might seem to miss parts of both shows while I hustled between venues on Wednesday night, it was worth every mile, and every minute, to experience these consummate pros in action, pros who’ve only improved with age.
No comparisons necessary.
And I didn’t even get a speeding ticket.
PAT METHENY, BILL KIRCHEN: THE LOCAL SPINS PHOTO GALLERY
Pat Metheny photos by Anthony Norkus
Bill Kirchen photos by Tori Thomas
Kirchen and Bobby Ballard photo by Kelly Loucks Wilson
(Click on photo to enlarge gallery)
Email John Sinkevics at john@localspins.com.
Copyright 2014, Spins on Music