No one better understands the infinite wealth of creativity that jazz allows than Pat Metheny. His new album, The Way Up, is composed of a single, 68-minute composition divided into four parts. It's basically the record he's been preparing to make his entire career. A Lee's Summit native, the guitarist has been at it since 1975; at only 21, he introduced a new methodology of harmony with the release of Bright Size Life. His latest project is no less innovative. The tempo moves fluidly from one chorus to the next as Metheny and his collaborators come together, break apart and repeat. On the album, Metheny's simmering fretwork is matched with the piano of longtime cohort Lyle Mays, plus the virtuosic harmonica of Gregoire Maret. The music is hard to classify, other than to call it jazz -- but the audience should expect all preconceived notions of what that word means to dissipate before their eyes Saturday night.
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