He's a pretty smart guy and I'm sure he's considered all the options. I don't care what he does. He's the artist, he can decide.
Focusing on "why doesn't Metheny release new music?" and then offering him advice on how he could/should do so is missing the mark here. From some recent Metheny interviews, he seems totally fine with what he is doing and where he is at and not at all concerned with releasing a new album. If he doesn't have a record label hounding him for a new record, he seems pretty content in his life just to be doing what he is doing:
Q: Why did you decide to tour now, without a new record?
Metheny: It is hard to know anymore exactly what impact records have on things. Even for me, I never really know when someone does or doesn’t have a new record out. The days where that was the driving force behind everything seem to have changed. What never changes is that you have to keep your eye on the music and play every gig like it is the last time you will ever play, and do your best to sound good. That has always been my focus, and I have never worried too much about the other stuff around the music.
Q: You tour a lot. How do you balance your professional career and personal life?
Metheny: Balance is the most important thing for me, in music and in life. I am always trying to get it together. Being a musician is great, but it is getting close to the point where if I never played another note, that would be fine too.
Metheny says he would like to record with the Side Eye lineup eventually — “definitely, in some form or another,” he says. Asked about music for the new, he says, “I get up every morning and write new music. I always have way more music than I will ever have time to play.”
Obviously I'm not giving a famous musician advice - I'm not sure how one could interpret what I wrote that way - but pointing out he could just release new music as downloads on his website.
In 2017 he said he was still planning to release them:
Metheny: "That said, I have about 8 or 10 “records” that I will try to get out there. They are kind of backing up at this point."
I assume a "record" is an album.
Pretty sure Metheny knows this. But as his recent quotes point out, he just seems happy to be doing what he is doing.
Read what he said just before the quote that you cite:
Metheny: Recordings have a very different place in spectrum of activities now, that’s for sure. It used to be the center of everything. Since the record companies started giving everyone’s music away in bulk in exchange for catalog rights, they have devalued music to the point where people expect it to be free. Somehow book publishers have been able not to do this, and it is a shame that music executives were not. On the other hand, touring has always been the primary destination for me anyway. The records were more like an ad to get people to come to the gig. So, I am already pretty well acclimated to the way things are set up now.
He says that he writes new music every day. But clearly recording and releasing new albums is not his focus. He makes that pretty clear.
Not at all. You really latch onto a quote like it's scripture. Seen you do this repeatedly with Jon Anderson too. Read what else these guys have to say and get a bigger and clearer picture. If Metheny had a desire to record and release all of this new music he was writing, he would've. I'm done going back and forth with you here. Hope you get to see Pat play on this tour!
Who cares what PM wants....the albums are something we want.
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From other things I've seen I think Metheny has made recordings over the last few years, but hasn't released them. I'd like to hear what he's been doing, but yes, it's his decision.
New interview conducted after last Friday's gig.
https://expo.newyorkupstate.com/life...fect-song.html
Nice interview. Some of the questions are good; this one is pretty pedestrian, but Metheny provides a response with a really interesting perspective on Joni Mitchell (emphasis mine):
W.L.: In the news recently, there have been stories about the upcoming Woodstock anniversary and also some about Joni Mitchell turning 75 [Mitchell wrote the song “Woodstock” which was made famous by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.] You were part of the terrific band that was on the tour to support her album “Mingus” back in the 70s. (Mitchell’s album “Shadows and Light” was subsequently released with performances culled from that tour.) Thinking back now, what was that opportunity like for you and what did you come away with from that experience?
P.M.: She’s great. If think about the musicians that I've been around that really impacted me, if I think about the gigs that I played that have been unbelievable, they've mostly been with people who are fluent in the broadest sense of what music is, there’s a kind of a sense of infinity when you're on the bandstand with people like Herbie Hancock, Elvin Jones, Roy Haynes, or Ornette (Coleman) -- you're dealing with infinity. For me, that requires a broad knowledge of music. There are lots of musicians who are dealing with a not broad realm of music but one where that realm goes very deep. Joni didn't really have a whole range of things, it was like a sliver; BUT, it was way, way, way deep and that is just as valuable and important as anything else. The main thing I carried from that experience is the admiration for how great she is and was.
David
Happy with what I have to be happy with.
He's discussed this before in interviews. Going beyond musicianship into the realm of artistry/humanity. Moving the listener beyond a superficial level of pure emotion. Steve Vai says the same thing about Holdsworth in the video tribute up on YouTube. "It's deeper than emotion."
Musically speaking I felt like there is still a lot of untapped potential concerning this current trio. Especially with the piano/keyboards. The other night was the first gig other than some performances in Japan. So I'm sure it'll be even better in two weeks.
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