Festival International de Jazz de Montreal 2005, Day 11, July 10, 2005

John Kelman

Senior Editor since 2004

With the realization that there will always be more music coming at him than he can keep up with, John wonders why anyone would think that jazz is dead or dying.

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Published: July 11, 2005

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Throughout the performance, the group was seen to be almost in awe of the huge crowd—but clearly loving it. It's not often that any group gets to play for an audience the size of a small city, and so the Pat Metheny Group's final stop on The Way Up tour couldn't have been better-picked. In the hotel following the performance, Lauria said that everyone would now be going their own separate ways until next time. Given that this version of Pat Metheny Group is perhaps the best ever, one wonders where they'll go next. One thing is certain, following both this show and his whole By Invitation Series: Metheny is an artist who continues to evolve and avoid predictability; and with a group this vital, their next step will be well worth following.

Festival organizers will have a tough job ahead of them to top some of the triumphs of the 26th edition of the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal, now the largest jazz festival in the world. Still, they manage to deliver all kinds of surprises every year, with attention to as broad a swath of musical styles as possible for attendees from across the globe, and expectations are already high to see what they can come up with to make FIJM 2006 an even greater experience.

Visit the Pat Metheny Group and the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal on the web.

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