European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 28, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Caught in the act Erie Clapton my it old and new in concert. Is Anita gof Titi Clapton is god was the Graf Itlo heard around the world when it appeared on London buildings m the mid 1960s today More than 20 years later Rock guitarist Eric Clapton is still god at least to the thousands of wildly enthusiastic fans packed into the sold out Grug Halle in Essen West Germany on Friday in slightly less than 2 i hours Clapton touched upon most of the highlights of his 27-year career he performed the most popular songs irom his stints with Cream. Blind Faith and Derek and the Dominos and from his Solo albums with emphasis on his latest release. Journeyman Only tunes by the Yar Birds and John Mayall s blues Breakers were missing Clapton has been slammed by critics As a commercial pop Sager hit maker of late but in concert he reclaims his position As one of Rock guitar s Superior voices dressed modestly in a Black suit and shirt for the Essen concert the bearded 45-year-old appeared unassuming As he Tore confidently through the familiar riffs and torrid solos that once earned him the Moniker of guitar hero and have since made him a legend in his own time yet despite the weighty labels that have been placed on him. Clapton who spoke Only when introducing songs and the members of his group smiled broadly at the crowd s ecstatic applause backed by a six piece band which included two keyboard players and a second guitarist and two female backup singers Clapton mixed six songs irom Journeyman with nine older tunes some dating Back 22 years though the concert May be considered a Clapton anthology it was t just a trip Down memory Lane. Unlike at the who s recent shows the old tunes did t evoke a sense of nostalgia the More pop oriented songs such As 1974 s / shot the sheriff and 1980 s cocaine received a harder Edge in concert and the late 60s heavy Rock Cream songs White room Sunshine of your love and Crossroads were lighter and less thunderous than the original versions yet. Though they May have lacked the old Rock n Roll rebelliousness the new treatment of the Cream tunes made them As fresh today As when they wore released highlights of the concert came with old love. From Journeyman a melancholy blues Lune Clapton  wrote with Young blues guitarist Robert Cray during which Clapton demonstrated his uncanny ability to evoke feeling and emotion through the chilling Wail of his guitar and with the 1978 Ballad wonderful tonight ii was in this song Hal Clapton s voice was at its Best More Beautiful live than the recorded version. Wonderful tonight a tune Clapton wrote for his wife. Path had the crowd singing along and left More than one pair of eyes brimming with tears. And then there was Lay a Clapton s 1970 guitar tour de Force with Derek and the Dominos still a masterpiece after All these years Clapton said in an interview with rolling Slone Magazine that the song which he dedicated to Patti when she was still married to beatle George Harrison still knocks him out each time he plays it. Bass player and Singer Nathan East gave an impressive rendition it the 1969 Blind Faith hit can t find my Way Home during which Clapton stepped into he shadows and Worth keeping an Eye on is percussionist Ray Cooper at stage left who provided a virtual sideshow with his near maniacal beating of the Tambourine bongos and Gong the italian band Zucchero opened the concert with 45 minutes of heavy duty Rock and blues the group enormously popular in Italy Drew its own legion of fans to Essen in All the concert is Well Worth the Bucks Clapton performs in Munich at the Olympia Halle thursday in Paris at the Zenith saturday and sunday and in Frankfurt at the fest Halle on monday by Anita Gosch Pat Metheny s mathematical melodic ism by Ken franckling United press International if Pat Metheny had t fallen in love with in guitar when he was a kid growing up outside Kansas City chances Are he might be teaching math Loday while Metheny writes instrumental compositions Rich with dancing rhythms and Catchy melodies he ids the creative process itself to be a math like Challenge generally. I try to solve musical problems it is an unromantic Way to put it. Even though i try to satisfy the listener that lives within me Metheny says if i have two notes that generally suggests what the third note should be i spend a lot of Lime trying to find the appropriate third note. Ii is very difficult for me to write i love it but i can t say it is fun it is painful the feeling that you have something on. The lip of your Tongue but you can t quite say in to have Hal Leeling for eight to 10 hours a Day for two or Truee Weet s in a Row its Lough " Metheny 35, is based in Cambridge mass he reflected on his career and his writing during a recent break m a global Lour that took his band. Pat Metheny group across the United states and Europe and is now headed to South America and Japan last year s letter from Home was his 14th recording m the past 13 years that highly productive and High Quality output has earned him a slew of grammy nominations and two awards in the jazz fusion category Metheny recently recorded with brazilian guitarist Tor mho Hora and also appears on reunion the stunning new recording by former Boss Gary Burton with whom he will Lour Lor three weeks this Spring for the first time m 14 years a Trio album. Parallel realities with drummer Jack de Johnelle and pianist Herbie Hancock will be released in april and followed with a two month summer tour Wilh de Johnelle Hancock and bassist Dave Holland Metheny co produced the de Johnelle session and wrote four of the tunes Jack s idea was to cover a lot of musical ground straight ahead free stuff melodic stuff and a lot of syn Clavier work. It was such a  Metheny says. I Don t think it is an Earth shattering record. There Are no new concepts but in is real solid with lots of listening you hear a lot of things on there you Don t hear the first Lime. Jack and i prepared the music loge Lher knowing Herbie could just come in and play. It almost does t matter what he plays in terms of notes his sound and touch and feel Are at such a High level there Are so Many things going on  Metheny is uncomfortable with the Lusion Label that dogs his highly improvised music i Hale the term he says. I always have. Ii is such a strange word to imply Hal there is More merging loge Lher of musicians and styles than Ever before in the past is incorrect to me. In the whole history of jazz there is a Clear and Strong tradition of people using Page 16 the stars and stripes Pat Metheny knows Good music takes a lot of work. Wednesday february 28,1990 whatever sources they could when playing this is a critical element in jazz. Jazz Guys were always the first to adapt to new things the drum set the saxophone the synthesizer. What we Are doing particularly with my band is just an Extension of thai  Metheny splits his playing Between acoustic and electric guitars and a synthesizer enhanced guitar that is linked to a syn Clavier digital music system. The electronic enhancements open up a lot of possibilities but Metheny says it takes a lot of work to Iron out developmental bugs in the equipment. These things have a very limited dynamic Range in their out of the Box stage. You have to work harder to make them sound Good you Are pulling two or three Levels of things Between what you Are playing and what the audience is hearing which Means the Conception has to be twice As Strong to make the trip it lakes a lot of work to make Hal sound right Metheny says. The danger in fusion which we Cross a lot is combining a lot of written material Wilh improvisation. People can pick Oul the difference Between when music is written and when it is Brainy and Clever because it is improvised. It is Ricky to get the right balance Slick writing is Boring in the same Way big band music can be Boring if it is played by tote " Metheny s distinctive sounding band which usually plays non Stop concerts exceeding two hours includes longtime Collaborator Lyle Mays on keyboards bassist Steve Rodby vocalist Pedro Aznar percussionist Armando Marcal and drummer Paul Wertico. Mays has been in the band irom the beginning a Collaborator in playing As Well As composing we function More As editors for each other than anything else Metheny says. Just to be Able to Bounce ideas Oil somebody is valuable other times we have almost written phrase by phrase  Metheny splits his free time Between Cambridge and a Home in Brazil. I went there for the first time in 1980, and the moment i Gol off the plane i Felt really Al Home it is a place i can really get a lot