Pat Metheny
April 13, 2010 / No Comments
Orchestrion
(Nonesuch Records)
One of guitarist Pat Metheny’s treasured memories as a child was watching his grandfather’s player piano, a 19th-century invention which played on its own using metallic music rolls. The machine sparked such an interest, that over the years Metheny has commissioned technicians and inventors around the globe to produce mechanical devices that might be used to play other instruments. The latest advances in solenoid and other technologies has made it possible to power fairly primative devices in new ways. In 2009, while taking his first hiatus from the touring since he was 17, Metheny had time to indulge his growing obsession these with the robotics devices and eventually record an entire album with these mechanized musical instruments. The result is his latest recording Orchestrion, an adventurous 5-track expedition into new acoustic territory by one of the music world’s intrepid explorers.
Click here to listen to a clip of “Orchestrion”.
Tracks: Orchestrion, Entry Point, Expansion, Soul Search, Spirit Of The Air.
