The Unity Sessions strives to capture the connections, both musical and extramusical, shared by the members of guitarist Pat Metheny’s most recent working group, the Unity Band: saxophonist Chris Potter, bassist Ben Williams, drummer Antonio Sanchez and keyboardist/vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Giulio Carmassi. Metheny wanted to document the musical and human rapport developing within the unit, but he wanted the viewer to experience that dynamic up close, rather than through the distant lens of a traditional concert film.
Shot at a New York City theater at the end of the group’s 2014 tour, The Unity Sessions presents the band performing a two-hour-plus set without an audience, on a dark stage illuminated by dramatic lighting. The cameras alternate between full-band angles and tighter shots that enable the viewer to gain an intimate perspective: focusing on Metheny’s hands, say, or offering close-ups of Sanchez as he listens and responds to the music around him.
