The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
  1. #1

    User Info Menu

    I've been listening to this one quite a bit lately. It is a very complex work, and IMO one of his best in years.

    It combines the cinematic scope of As Falls Wichita with the polished world jazz of Offramp and his other 1980's work. He is playing with his recent collaborators, Gwilym Simcock, Linda May Han Oh and Antonio Sanchez. They seem to play together almost telepathically. Of particular note are the elegant orchestrations, which enhance but never overwhelm the songs.

    The guitar is not out in front as much as other albums, so some may find this offputting. (In case you're wondering, he's borrowing from his 1980's heavily processed sound.) In fact, it's not really a guitar album at all. It's an orchestral work. It hearkens back as much to minimalist composers like Arvo Part and John Adams, as to Wes Montgomery and Duke Ellington.

    What I particularly like is the narrative structure of the pieces. Like As Falls Wichita, the songs hold together and seem to tell a story. While As Falls was more of an aural version of a landscape painting, this is a more complicated work (and longer) that tells a story of the entire country at this weird time. As the song titles indicate:

    1. "America Undefined" 13:22
    2. "Wide and Far" 8:26
    3. "You Are" 6:13
    4. "Same River" 6:43
    5. "Pathmaker" 8:19
    6. "The Past in Us" 6:23
    7. "Everything Explained" 6:52
    8. "From This Place" 4:40
    9. "Sixty-Six" 9:35
    10. "Love May Take Awhile"

    Anyway, well worth the investment in repeated listenings.

  2.  

    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

    User Info Menu

    Thanks for the reminder. Somehow I completely missed this one! Just ordered. (I'm a dinosaur. Still like physical CDs.)

    Some of Pat's earlier albums made such an impression on me. Being originally an acoustic player myself, New Chautauqua and 80/81 really opened my ears to the sound of a steel-string flat-top in a jazz context. I ended up at GIT a couple years later.

  4. #3

    User Info Menu

    It's my favourite Pat Metheny album, maybe because it's not all about the guitar. It's an incredible ensemble tour de force.

  5. #4

    User Info Menu

    Spirituality, intellect, artistic maturity, and pure inspiration all converge here. He's not scared of using his sig 80s synth sound, either! More power to Pat, in my book!

    Just what the doctor ordered to allay the pain inflicted by social schism. New winds will blow.

  6. #5

    User Info Menu

    As you can tell from the title of the first song, as well as by the rather ominous tone of the piece, it reflects the unease going on in the country at large.

    But being a true heartlander, Pat always finds meaning in landscape and history, and ends on an upbeat note.

    I relistened to Bright Size Life right after this. One of my favorites—got me into Pat big-time when I was a younger guy. You’re not going to find the crystalline chords and sparkling leads with the new album, but the interplay between Pat and his fellow musicians is always a thing of wonder.

    Still miss Jaco (and Lyle too)...think of the things these guys could have come up with had they not passed away.

  7. #6

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by Doctor Jeff
    I've been listening to this one quite a bit lately. It is a very complex work, and IMO one of his best in years.
    ....
    The guitar is not out in front as much as other albums, so some may find this offputting. (In case you're wondering, he's borrowing from his 1980's heavily processed sound.) In fact, it's not really a guitar album at all.....
    ....
    Anyway, well worth the investment in repeated listenings.
    I love it .. really wonderfully composed .. and the playing is sublime .. Peter Erskine heard it and said the drumming is simply perfect .. every single thing Antonio plays on it is perfect.

    I'm surprised that's your take on Pat's guitar tone .. to me it's very simple, a lot darker than he's sounded before ... to me, it's not outfront as much largely because of the tone .. like his tone knob was stuck at off. LOL

    I saw the band play in Australia in March, right after the album came out and they didn't play anything from it, which was a bit of a surprise.

    It's definitely one of my favorite albums lately.

    Cheers

  8. #7

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by CarlD
    I love it .. really wonderfully composed .. and the playing is sublime .. Peter Erskine heard it and said the drumming is simply perfect .. every single thing Antonio plays on it is perfect.

    I'm surprised that's your take on Pat's guitar tone .. to me it's very simple, a lot darker than he's sounded before ... to me, it's not outfront as much largely because of the tone .. like his tone knob was stuck at off. LOL

    I saw the band play in Australia in March, right after the album came out and they didn't play anything from it, which was a bit of a surprise.

    It's definitely one of my favorite albums lately.

    Cheers
    Well yes that would be one way to describe his tone. It’s almost like he doesn’t want to be the center of the music. Must be Lutheran (that’s a Midwestern joke).

    There are a lot of albums I like where the instrumental work is a bit below the surface, or embedded as it were in the music. As Falls Wichita was similar. Much as I like more accessible stuff like Kenny Burrell, I’m not going to listen to Chitlins con Carne 20 times to figure it out. Some music, like fiction by Pynchon and DeLillo, is dense and challenging. It takes awhile to fully appreciate it.

  9. #8

    User Info Menu

    So did I ever tell you guys about the time I got to shake Pat Metheny's hand?

    It was around 1984, and I was a student at GIT in Hollywood. New England Digital ran an ad in Guitar Player magazine about their new Synclavier. "~Come hear Pat Metheny demo it at USC. Just write in for tickets." So I did.

    The day before the demo, the radio announced: "~Charlie Haden in concert this weekend. At a vegetarian restaurant in Venice CA. And there could be a special guest. Hint, hint." And I knew Pat was in town because of the Synclavier demo (which was awesome, mind blowing to me at the time). And I knew he had recorded with Charlie in recent years.

    So I get to the restaurant. Enjoy some veggies and beer. And more beer. A Nissan Z car pulls up outside. Pat gets out and comes in. Sits in with Charlie's band for an hour. And Charlie’s got Michel Pettrucciani on piano! I didn’t know about Petrucciani at this point. He wasn’t yet well known in the American jazz community. This was my introduction. At one point, Michel takes a solo. Pat’s eyes got big and he smiled approvingly over at Charlie. And to me, this is all just glorious. I’m 10 feet away from these masters.

    After the show, I hung around a bit. Not my usual style, but this was Metheny.

    Pat was still there for a while, so my beer buzz had me waddle up and say "~Hey, Pat! I’m a student at GIT, blah, blah, big fan, blah blah, even transcribe some of your your stuff, blah, blah..."

    And Pat was super gracious. Said "~that's fantastic, how's it going, how’s Joe Diorio doing…” All that kinda stuff. I asked him to stop by the school, which he had done in some previous year, but his crew guy hinted that the schedule was too tight.

    Once Pat knew I was a guitar student, he was really supportive and gracious and encouraging.

    I floated out of there.

    —The End—