Pat Metheny Group to Perform at UB on Feb. 17

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Center for the Arts at the University at Buffalo will present Pat Metheny Group at 8 p.m. on Feb. 17 in the Mainstage theater located at the Center for the Arts on the UB North (Amherst) Campus. Tickets for the show will go on sale at 10 a.m. on Nov. 29.

Over the course of more than 20 years as a recording artist, guitarist Metheny has released album after album, each one brilliantly documenting another aspect of his unique and nearly uncategorizable musical journey. Exhibiting an insatiable creative energy, Metheny has participated in just about every avenue of modern music-making that the early 21st century might offer a musician. Seemingly bent on blurring and obliterating stylistic boundaries at every opportunity, he has created an expansively impressive body of work that includes a series of highly influential trio recordings, award-winning solo albums, scores for hit Hollywood motion pictures, duets with major artists such as Charlie Haden and Jim Hall, and collaborations with other significant figures in modern music such as Ornette Coleman and Steve Reich.

For legions of his fans worldwide, there is no setting that defines Metheny the musician more than his role as bandleader of one of the most acclaimed and influential musical ensembles of the past quarter century, the Pat Metheny Group. As the only group in history to win seven consecutive Grammy awards for seven consecutive releases, the Pat Metheny Group has occupied a nearly undefinable musical territory that is accessible to listeners of all kinds while never compromising a unique compositional and improvisational integrity that is unparalleled among contemporary and mainstream jazz groups.

Founded by Metheny in 1977, the Pat Metheny Group has relentlessly traveled the world, playing and selling out concerts, festivals and clubs in more than 40 countries, becoming one of the most active and popular touring acts of any kind anywhere. Each new record and tour are awaited with eager anticipation and speculation; this is a band with an imagination and no-holds-barred creativity that has constantly surprised and delighted fans with the unexpected, yet always delivers on the endless promise of imagination and pure melody that was invoked from the first notes of their first record.

The Pat Metheny Group World Tour follows the release of their newest album, "The Way Up," on Jan. 25 by Nonesuch Records. Metheny and his longtime pianist/collaborator, Lyle Mays, join bassist and co-producer Steve Rodby, drummer Antonio Sanchez, harmonica player Grégoire Maret and trumpet player Cuong Vu.

Tickets are $42, $36, and $30. Tickets are available from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday in the Center for the Arts Box Office and all Ticketmaster locations, including Kaufmann's. To charge tickets, call 852-5000; in Canada, call 1-416-870-8000. For group sales, call 645-6771. For more information call 645-ARTS. The Center for the Arts is a Ticketfast location.