Sound of Summer Running

Sound of Summer Running

ASIN: B0000069N8

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Bassist Marc Johnson has excelled at attracting smart, thoughtful bands for his periodic studio dates, none smarter or more instantly engaging than the de facto supergroup drafted for his Verve label debut. The Sound of Summer Running is a fitting image for this deceptively breezy, nearly telepathic summit between Johnson, guitarists Bill Frisell and Pat Metheny, and drummer Joey Baron, a dream team that makes its collective technical prowess invisible. Hearing Frisell and Metheny--arguably the two most original and identifiable guitar stylists in modern music--establish their relaxed, playful dialogue would be reason enough for this meeting, but Johnson's focal role as composer with an unforced lyricism along with Baron's consistently superb percussion make this a sound for all seasons. --Sam Sutherland

Entertainment Weekly
[Marc] Johnson has created sounds so gentle, wholesome, even magical, they evoke a country summer childhood. . . . But the absence of an edge also allows for a certain monotony to creep in. . . .

Sound of Summer Running,Marc Johnson,Pat Metheny,Bill Frisell,Polygram Records,Bass,Guitar,Jazz,Jazz Music,Pop,Post-Bop

Average customer rating:

Marc Johnson rules!

Spring or Summer?

Intensely musical music...and ain't that the idea?

Pleasant (Is That a Valid Term to Describe a Jazz Album?)

What the Ventures might sound like ...

Sound of Summer Running
Marc Johnson , Pat Metheny , and Bill Frisell
Manufacturer: Polygram Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Bebop General | Bebop | Jazz | Styles | Music
General | Jazz | Styles | Music
Jazz Fusion | Jazz | Styles | Music
Modern Postbebop | Jazz | Styles | Music
Bebop & Post-Bop | Compilations | Jazz | Styles | Music
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ASIN: B0000069N8
Release Date: 1998-02-24

Tracks:

Faith In You
Ghost Town
Summer Running
With My Boots On
Union Pacific
Proch Swing
Dingy-Dong Day
The Adventures Of Max And Ben
In A Quiet Place
For A Thousand Years

Amazon.com

Bassist Marc Johnson has excelled at attracting smart, thoughtful bands for his periodic studio dates, none smarter or more instantly engaging than the de facto supergroup drafted for his Verve label debut. The Sound of Summer Running is a fitting image for this deceptively breezy, nearly telepathic summit between Johnson, guitarists Bill Frisell and Pat Metheny, and drummer Joey Baron, a dream team that makes its collective technical prowess invisible. Hearing Frisell and Metheny--arguably the two most original and identifiable guitar stylists in modern music--establish their relaxed, playful dialogue would be reason enough for this meeting, but Johnson's focal role as composer with an unforced lyricism along with Baron's consistently superb percussion make this a sound for all seasons. --Sam Sutherland

Customer Reviews:

Marc Johnson rules!.......2007-05-27

I had no idea who bassist Marc Johnson was before I bought this beautiful 1998 release. The first thing that caught my attention was the picture of the little girl on the CD cover. The sky was so blue, and she looked so happy and carefree that I was just drawn - and not in a sinister way, mind you. It's just that somehow in my mind, I thought that if this CD could make me feel as happy and carefree as she looked, I wanted it.

The second thing that caught my eye (and clinched the deal) was the clear sticker on the front of the CD which told me that Pat Metheny was on it. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Pat doesn't just play with anyone and I knew even without listening to it, that this was an album I would love. Well, that was eight years ago and this is still one of my favourite CDs ever.

I didn't know who Bill Frisell was either at that time but since buying this, I've become a huge fan of both Johnson and Frisell, who by the way gives one of the most exciting performances on this album that I've heard from him yet. I say it with the utmost respect, both to him and any other guitarists he's played with but I believe that with Metheny playing alongside him, Frisell simply had to raise his game to the utmost. And he truly does.

Joey Baron's drumming is incredible and right from the opener, "Faith In You", all participants let us know what we're in for: An hour or so of pure enjoyment. Johnson pens all the songs except for Bill Frisell's "Ghost Town"; a really good version of the tune he used to title his excellent CD of the same name in 2000 (another one I never got round to reviewing) and "The Adventures of Max and Ben". "In a Quiet Place" was written by Johnson and Eliane Elias and the beautiful closer, "For a Thousand Years", was written by Metheny.

Bill Frisell plays electric and acoustic guitars, Pat Metheny plays electric guitar, acoustic guitar and 42-string pikasso guitar, and Joey Baron plays drums and tambourine. Produced by the seemingly omniscient Lee Townsend, this excellent CD is truly the Sound of Summer Running. I love all the songs but the opener and closer are still firm favourites.

PS: If you'd like to try something a little more adventurous from Marc Johnson, a little more left of centre, I highly recommend two other CDs by him that I own. (Again, these are CDs I never got round to reviewing). The first is 1896's Bass Desires and the second is 1987's Second Sight. Both are on ECM and both feature Bill Frisell and my other hero John Scofield on guitar, with the phenomenal Peter Erskine on drums.

My favourite tunes on the former include the crazy fun "Samurai Hee-Haw", the John Coltrane tune "Resolution" and a cover of John Scofield's "Thanks Again". On the latter, I say look out for the Bill Frisell tune, "Small Hands", Peter Erskine's "Sweet Soul" and John Scofield's "Twister". Both CDs are a guitar scream fest and I mean that in the best possible way.

Spring or Summer?.......2007-01-15

With 2 great guitarists like Bill Frisell and Pat Metheny joining Marc Johnson in a group effort releasing this album, you say to yourself how I can not buy this album; it's like 3 in one. Yes it is.
Light compositions; this is not an album that goes in my top favorite Jazz album collection, however, the feel I get listening to this album is similar to a very relaxing day, in a convertible car on a beautiful spring day, cruising the desert roads in the West or Route 66. All the songs are very fresh reminding me of the start of a beautiful spring green season.
"The sound of Summer Running" or "Sound of Spring coming"? Never mind, both way it is fresh, smooth and relaxing. If this was the intention of these fine musicians, they have done a great Job

Intensely musical music...and ain't that the idea?.......2006-05-22

There are moments here that are absolute musical perfection.
To wit, the solos on Porch Swing; Frisell takes off on a haunting harmolodical flight, flowing through the changes like water with his trademark cascading lines, then gently hands the reins to Metheny, who plays, with golden tone and gorgeous touch, what must be one of the most concise and moving solos he's ever recorded...of a thousand or so...this and Missouri Sky may be Pat's two most musical outings, and he is to my ears the most musical guitarist of the last 30 years.
The interplay between the whole band is unreal; this sounds like a group who've played together for decades, not days, with no one trying show off their chops or outplay everyone else, as is typical in so many jazz outings. The boys listen to each other reverently and playfully; every band should groove this sweetly.
The compostitions are delightfully simple and hook-filled, designed to let the players be as musical as possible. It's almost all intensely melodic and "in", with very little harmonically "out" weirdness of the kind that some listeners and players seem to demand to prove that "This is Jazz!"
To me jazz is taking a melody or head and putting your personal stamp on it while playing off and with all the other musicians...and that is precisely what this disc is all about...a relaxed summit meeting of two of the most interesting jazz guitarists alive, with a subtle and funky rhythym section.
I truly think this album will outlive most jazz records of the last decade...it doesn't confront or confound, it takes you by the hand to a land of joyous sound where you can't help but breathe deeply and smile.
Is it wrong to make a jazz album that is just pure bliss? I think not. Miles would have loved this. Well, the Kind of Blue Miles would have. Lots of space and lots of harmony, especailly on the ballads.
I can leave this album on all day while in the yard, writing, gardening, doing yoga, or just watching the clouds drift by, and never get bored. It rewards close listening, but also makes a sweet soundtrack.
Beautifully produced with shimmering sonic layers that never distract from the melody (the bass is especially rich and fat), TSOSR is a joy from start to finish. I could listen to Porch Swing every day for years...I almost have...it never fails to put me in the Magical Land of Musical Bliss, where all is right with life.
Thank you, gentlemen, for making this record. It has beautifully enhanced my life, and will do so for years to come.

Pleasant (Is That a Valid Term to Describe a Jazz Album?).......2005-05-15

When first listening to this album I was impressed by how "pleasant" and relaxfull the music was. The more I listened to it I began to wonder if much of this was really jazz. Over and over again I hear accolades about Bill Frisell's music, how fantastic he is, that he is one of the greatest living jazz guitar players, etc.. In the last two years I have attended many jazz concerts that featured musicians anyone with any knowledge of jazz would recognize. I had not given it any thought until now, but I have only walked out of two concerts in my life, and Bill Frisell was performing in both of them. I had never seen him in person previously but have him as a sideman on a few albums. His was the featured group in the last one and before leaving, near the end of the concert, I was questioning if he was playing jazz. The strings with him certainly weren't.

While there are a few tunes on here that get your attention, much of it is just very pleasant music that is not offensive and is nice to have in the background. Not being a devotee of "Smooth Jazz", I was thinking that this album does not fall into that category, but is a step up from it, but does not give one the feeling one would expect from a "jazz" album.

I like Pat Metheny's music and was impressed with the quality of the drummer and the bass player.

What the Ventures might sound like ..........2004-04-19

... if they went to Berklee and started their careers at 40.

This is a relaxed, comfortable, if unchallenging listen from two of the top guitar players of the age and a bassist who can (and has before) fronted a two guitar line up (Marc Johnson's Bass Desires -- check it out, Frisell and Scofield -- twice the music and twice the kick as that presented here)

It's good music, but I expected more.

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