November 23, 1997 Pat Metheny Group
Lisner Auditorium and the bassoon promise
Lisner Auditorium, Washington, DC
The Pat Metheny Group brought the Imaginary Day tour to Lisner Auditorium for two nights, November 23 and 24, 1997. This is the night Sean recorded Pat’s bassoon promise.
Years after his long phone interview with Pat about Don Ellis, Sean introduced himself after the show. He tells the story in his open thank-you letter:
“You immediately acknowledged ‘oh yeah, you’re the bassoon player, right?’ I was blown away that you had remembered, but I began kidding with you that I was disappointed that there was no bassoon playing on the then-new recording (Imaginary Day). You chuckled and countered with ‘Well, if I ever need a bassoon player, you’ll be the first call I ma.…. the first EMAIL I’ll send!’”
Sean caught every word on a pocket dictation recorder. The clip is on his SoundCloud as “Pat Metheny Promise After Imaginary Day Performance at Lisner Auditorium 1997.”
