{"id":939400,"date":"2026-10-20T00:14:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T00:14:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/939400\/"},"modified":"2026-10-20T00:14:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T00:14:12","slug":"photos-pat-metheny-looks-back-and-leaps-forward-in-ottawa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/939400\/","title":{"rendered":"PHOTOS: Pat Metheny looks back and leaps forward in Ottawa"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oct 19, 2026 \u2014 <\/p>\n

Pat Metheny\u2019s music has always had one foot in the familiar and the other somewhere over the horizon.<\/p>\n

At Ottawa\u2019s Algonquin Commons Theatre earlier this month, the guitarist brought that restless curiosity to a tour supporting his new release, Side-Eye III+<\/a>, blending the melodies that have long endeared him to listeners with the musical exploration that keeps his work moving forward.<\/p>\n

\"Pat<\/a><\/p>\n

Pat Metheny and his band at Ottawa\u2019s Algonquin Commons Theatre in October 2026. Photo: Dan Nawrocki<\/p>\n

Drawing on decades of music, from his early solo recordings to the Pat Metheny Group catalogue and beyond, Metheny made the past feel less like a retrospective than an invitation to keep exploring.<\/p>\n

An opening drum intro set the rhythmic wheels in motion before \u201cBright Size Life,\u201d the title track from Metheny\u2019s 1976 debut, offered an early treat for longtime fans. Nearly five decades on, the music retains its melodic immediacy, a reminder that Metheny\u2019s adventurous instincts have always gone hand in hand with a gift for writing tunes that stay with you.<\/p>\n

\"Pat<\/a><\/p>\n

Pat Metheny and his band at Ottawa\u2019s Algonquin Commons Theatre in October 2026. Photo: Dan Nawrocki<\/p>\n

His bandmates proved ideal partners in that balancing act. Keyboardist Chris Fishman, bassist Jermaine Paul, and drummer Joe Dyson moved comfortably between tightly arranged passages and more open-ended exchanges, while Leonard Patton added vocals and percussion to the mix.<\/p>\n

\"Pat<\/a><\/p>\n

Pat Metheny’s band at Ottawa\u2019s Algonquin Commons Theatre in October 2026. Photo: Dan Nawrocki<\/p>\n

One of the evening\u2019s most compelling moments came with \u201cTrigonometry,\u201d Metheny\u2019s composition associated with Ornette Coleman, performed as a duet with Dyson. Their exchange brought the music\u2019s rhythmic inventiveness to the foreground, offering a glimpse of Metheny\u2019s more exploratory side without losing the sense of momentum.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, the familiar warmth of the Pat Metheny Group repertoire sat comfortably alongside material reflecting his wider musical relationships and newer directions. There was no sense of simply revisiting old glories. Instead, Metheny seemed intent on showing how these different strands of his career continue to inform one another, with melody serving as a common thread through shifting textures and moods.<\/p>\n

\"Pat<\/a><\/p>\n

Pat Metheny and his band at Ottawa\u2019s Algonquin Commons Theatre in October 2026. Photo: Dan Nawrocki<\/p>\n

A quieter interlude came with \u201cPhase Dance,\u201d performed as a duet between Metheny and Fishman. The pared-back arrangement gave the melody room to breathe and highlighted the musicians\u2019 sensitivity to one another, providing a welcome contrast to the evening\u2019s more rhythmically charged passages.<\/p>\n

The two encores offered a fitting conclusion. \u201cAre You Going With Me?\u201d revisited one of the Pat Metheny Group\u2019s signature pieces before Metheny returned alone with an acoustic medley spanning several eras of his catalogue. Moving through familiar melodic fragments without the support of the band, he brought the evening back to its simplest elements: the guitar, the tune, and the possibilities that remain when a musician knows his own musical language inside out.<\/p>\n

It was a lovely way to close: one guitarist, a lifetime of melodies, and plenty of room for the imagination to wander. Metheny may revisit his past, but he never sounds content to stay there.<\/p>\n

\"Pat<\/a><\/p>\n

Pat Metheny and his band at Ottawa\u2019s Algonquin Commons Theatre in October 2026. Photo: Dan Nawrocki<\/p>\n

Complete set list<\/p>\n


\nForward March (Marching Percussion Intro)
\nIn On It
\nBright Size Life
\nDon\u2019t Look Down
\nBetter Days Ahead (Pat Metheny Group)
\nTimeline (Michael Brecker)
\nMake a New World
\nThe First Circle (Pat Metheny Group; followed by band introductions)
\nUrban and Western
\nThe Red One (John Scofield & Pat Metheny)
\nM\u00e1s all\u00e1 (\u201cBeyond\u201d) (Pat Metheny Group)
\nPhase Dance (Pat Metheny Group; Metheny and Chris Fishman duet)
\nTrigonometry (Pat Metheny composition associated with Ornette Coleman; duet with drummer Joe Dyson) <\/p>\n

Encore 1<\/p>\n


\nAre You Going With Me? (Pat Metheny Group) <\/p>\n

Encore 2<\/p>\n


\nMinuano (Six Eight) \/ As It Is \/ James \/ September Fifteenth \/ This Is Not America \/ Antonia (solo acoustic guitar) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Oct 19, 2026 \u2014 Pat Metheny\u2019s music has always had one foot in the familiar and the other…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":939401,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194295],"tags":[49,48,3329,341,20739,10000],"class_list":["post-939400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ottawa","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-concerts","tag-music","tag-ottawa","tag-photography"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/939400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=939400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/939400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/939401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=939400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=939400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=939400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}