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“Jazz is an idea that is more powerful than the details of its history – a concept bigger than any single one of its partisans could ever hope to define.” 

– Pat Metheny 

By Jane Yin 

Special to the Daily Planet 

Music without words sometimes speaks louder than lyric-filled melody. The Pat Metheny Group is case and point. Their latest musical creation “Speaking of Now” is a compilation of nimble jazz instrumentations that converse with the soul. With flavorful piano progressions running alongside Pat Metheny’s earth-shivering guitar-playing, the now six-piece group presents us with nine poignant pieces. The group performs at Zellerbach Hall next Tuesday evening. 

At the ripe age of 18, the mastermind guitarist and creator of the group, Pat Metheny, had already escalated his musical career far beyond that of most of his fellow musicians when he became the youngest instructor at the University of Miami. A year later, he became the youngest teacher in the history of Boston’s Berklee College of Music. As a musician and composer, Metheny has received more than 23 Grammy Awards for a number of achievements, including best electric guitarist and best guitar synthesizer. Metheny also performs as a solo artist and with his other group, the Pat Metheny Trio. Metheny is known for his extensive incorporation of the synthesizer in jazz music, even being hailed as an innovator by many musical experts. 

“My first relationship to any kind of musical situation is as a listener,” explained Metheny. “I have always considered myself to be someone who is a big fan of music in general who happens to occasionally find themselves in the middle of having to play or write something.” 

The seven-time Grammy-winning group has performed in more than 40 countries to sold-out audiences. The group’s sound, like the colorful collage that decorates their new album insert, inspires imagination of travel and exploration within listeners. Their music is a melting pot of the best sugars and spices, yet each instrument is granted an equal voice. 

“Speaking of Now” opens with “As It Is.” The track’s lurid piano and trumpet notes immediately captivate interest. “You,” track five on the album, is crafted with intricate artistry; the vocals provide a tender melody. The journey continues with the fast-paced, energized “A Place in the World” and slows down to a stroll with “Afternoon.” 

After taking a three-year break, the jazz greats constituting the original trio – Metheny as well as Lyle Mays and Steve Rodby – got back together after doing individual projects to add three new members and record “Speaking of Now.” They’ve acquired internationally recognized musicians, including drummer Antonio Sanchez, from Mexico City and Richard Bona, who is from Cameroon in West Africa. It wasn’t an effortless search for Metheny’s new members; some were a little more difficult to find than others. 

Metheny stumbled upon his last member, Cuong Vu, while listening to the trumpeter on an Internet radio station. Still overwhelmed by the excellent horn skills, Metheny quickly called fellow musicians to locate the musician with no luck. 

“Finally I just thought, ‘Well, how many Cuong Vu’s could there be in the phone book?’ I called 411, and it turned out that there was just one, a Brooklyn number, a likely place for a young aspiring musician in New York to live.” 

Metheny, armed with an undying passion for Jazz music, always looks toward the future, as he exclaimed, “We have to get our collective imagination working hard on a vision that is more concerned with what this music can become than what it has already been.”