by Tom Baldino, President of JSJBF
The Conversation That Sparked a Pat Metheny Tribute
A little background on the genesis of the show, which was held on the first Sunday in March at the Belmar Arts Center. About ten years ago, Chris Krebs of the BAC, had a conversation with JSJBF member Steve Bryant about doing a show comprised of the music of jazz icon Pat Metheny. Fast forward to a more recent conversation where they ran into each other in a parking lot (figuratively, not literally), and that conversation led to this performance. Ironically, Steve was in possession of his Pat Metheny model Ibanez guitar at the time!
Meet Red 123: A Powerhouse Jersey Shore Jazz Ensemble
Between those two meetings, Steve had formed the band Red 123, an extremely talented group of musicians that are a prime example of the old adage, “The whole is greater than the sum of it’s parts.” With Steve on guitar, Digba Ogunbyi on piano/keys, Cody McCorry on bass, Tom Cottone on drums, and on trumpet/flugel horn, the person who Steve calls his “secret weapon,” Jim Stagnitto, they make up as good a group playing in this genre as you will find on the Jersey Shore, or anywhere else.
This ninety-minute performance started with the nearly fifty-year-old Pat Metheny Group album cut “Phase Dance,” and true to the original, an Ibenez acoustic was set up on a stand, on which Steve played the introduction, before seamlessly switching to his Pat Metheny Ibanezmodel for some inspired playing, especially nice were the notes in unison with Jim’s flugel horn. His tribute “Jaco,” from the same album, featured young Cody’s fine bass solo. He is about the same age as Jaco Pastorius when he played with Pat. Next, the song “James,” from 1982’s Offramp album, was written for James Taylor and included some fine flugel horn, well as a little triangle from Jim, aided by some beautiful piano, courtesy of Digba. “Bright Size Life” the title cut from the debut album of the same name with Jaco and Bob Moses, was hailed as a” foundational and critically acclaimed jazz fusion recording,” and this band treated it as such, with an exquisite reading. A later cut, “Have You Heard,” which appears on the 1989 album Letter from Home featured some excellent fretwork from Steve over a lush framework of rhythm provided by the band. “Travels,” from the Off Ramp collection featured Steve on a Taylor acoustic, provided by his guitar tech, Christian Seamon, who Steve told the audience he has known since he was a twelve-year-old in Steve’s school music class. The song which has a mellow, almost country hue, was enhanced by Digba’s piano work.
“Timeline,” a cut from 2021’s Side-Eye NYC CD, had a bluesy tinged feel to start but soon turned into a master class of musicianship by the band, swinging its way to a big finish. “Are You Going with Me” from Off Ramp, was said to be inspired by a walk taken in upstate New York. As he strapped on his Gibson ES135, Steve said that “more babies were conceived during the 8 minutes of this song,” which got a rise out of the audience. When they finished, it was easy to hear why! “Last Train Home,” from 1987’s Still Life (Talking), began with Tom on the brushes in a rhythmic pattern sounding like a train coming down the tracks, with Steve asking the audience if anyone recognized the tune from the Weather Channel. They then launched into the song, the guitar sounding almost sitar like, with great effect. Kudos to Tom for maintaining that intensity on the drums for the entire song, something only a real pro could pull off.
The next two songs, “San Lorenzo,” and “April Joy/April Wind,” also appear on the Phase Dance album. Steve used his 330/12 Rickenbacker, which featured some nice fingerpicking on the first, then went back to the Pat Metheny Ibanez, on a song that featured Cody on bass. The final number was probably his most famous composition, “Song for Bilbao.” Steve employed the Gibson ES135 for this number, and was more than ably accompanied by Jim on the flugel horn and Digba on the keys.
It was a superb presentation of the music of Pat Metheny and if this piques your interest, I highly recommend you either check out the band Red 123 or see the next presentation of the “Pat Metheney Tribute Show,” at the Hopewell Theater on May 8th. For more information go to www.red123music.com.