Bob Gluck's Blog

It may seem as if I’ve been quiet for a while. But I’ve actually been busily working on two long-term projects. One of these is a set of new musical compositions, tba. The other is a book project that I began in January 2021, and has now entered its production phase.

I’m happy to let you know about my new book, “Pat Metheny: Stories Beyond Words,” to be published by University of Chicago Press in Fall 2024. This will be a successor to my two previous Chicago books, “You’ll Know When You Get There: Herbie Hancock and the Mwandishi Band” (2012, Italian edition forthcoming), and “The Miles Davis Lost Quintet and Other Revolutionary Ensembles” (2016; Italian edition, 2020). The latter book treats Miles’ first electric band in the context of Circle, MEV, Anthony Braxton, the 19^thStreet loft, and the Revolutionary Ensemble. My conversations with Pat Metheny by chance emerged upon my discovery that he, too, was as positively impacted by the Mwandishi band as a teenager as was I.

Like many of my writing projects, the Pat Metheny book emerged from my experience playing the (in this case his) musical repertoire. When I was working on my 2020 recording “Early Morning Star” (FMR), I began to play Pat Metheny tunes just for fun. I worked my way through much of his most recent “Pat Metheny Songbook,” selected 25 compositions and then narrowed them down to 15. These became the core repertoire for duets with bassist Christopher Dean Sullivan, and subsequently trios with Chris and drummer Karl Latham. The trio gigs took place in the first year of the pandemic, at first in an outdoors venue, and then via live stream.

In the process, I realized that a number of core musical features – representing aspects of the “DNA” of Metheny’s music – touched on musical issues I had been wanting to write about. I asked Pat whether he was open to my writing a book about his work, and he agreed. Thus began two years of dialog with him and others about his music and the concepts behind it. Portions of these conversations, supplemented by interviews with Steve Rodby (Pat Metheny Group bassist  and ongoing co-producer of Metheny’s work), Antonio Sanchez (drummer on several Metheny projects), and Andre Cholmondeley (Metheny’s guitar tech) added breadth and depth to the extensive writing I was doing highlighting musical examples that I felt exemplified these features.  

In a sense, “Pat Metheny: Stories Beyond Words” is a listener’s guide that explores the music using several different narrative lenses.  One is descriptive, another more technical, but of greatest interest to me, a third that engages with Metheny’s metaphor of “telling a story.” I believe that every reader will find a path through the book that will suit them, leading to a fuller and deeper engagement as a listener. I also sought, while writing this book, to select examples that represent a range of Metheny’s diverse repertoire that may appeal to an equally wide range of listeners.

You’ll be hearing more about the book as it moves through the production cycle this year. To keep informed and gain a better sense of the various topics I address, periodically check back in on this book blog. If you are not yet a subscriber (it is free), consider subscribing and you’ll receive a reminder when I publish a new entry. … ‘til then!

~ by bobgluck on August 22, 2023.

Posted in Crafting the text, great musical thinkers, musical content, Pat Metheny, Reflections on musical context
Tags: andre chomondeley, Antonio sanchez, bob gluck, electric guitar, guitar, jazz, music, music books, musical stories, Pat Metheny, pat Metheny group, Roland guitar synthesizer, Steve rodby