Pat Metheny Group

Artist: Pat Metheny Group
Label: Ecm Records
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 042282559326
EAN: 0042282559326
ASIN: B0000261NL

Release Date: 2000-02-29

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Bebop General

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Jazz Fusion

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Listmania:

Great Jazz Fusion
Best Jazz Rock Fusion with Emphasis on Guitar
When Music and your soul collide
Focus: Jazz Guitar (By Stream of Godliness)
An Intro to the Genius that is Pat Metheny
A Jam Rock Anthology
The Best Fusion Albums
A Sub-set of favorite CD's - ECM jazz
Favorite Recordings
MIDNITE JAZZ ON THE ROCKS

Tracks:

San Lorenzo
Phase Dance
Jaco
Aprilwind
April Joy
Lone Jack

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As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls
Offramp
Watercolors
Bright Size Life
First Circle

Customer Reviews:

My Favourite Metheny.......2007-01-11

It's between this and "Offramp" for my favourite Pat Metheny experience. I love the instrumentation he uses on this album, the types of guitars he uses. And "San Lorenzo" is my absolute favourite Metheny track of all time. The album is very melodic with just enough discordance to make it interseting and pleasant to listen to. Sometimes Pat drifts into discordance so much that it's hard for me to comprehend, for example on the track Offramp. There's none of that on this album. Dan Egan does a great job on bass, especially on the homage to "Jaco" (no one could top Jaco Pastorius) and "April Joy". And Lyle Mays on keyboards is amazing as always. "Phase Dance" is one of Metheny's most popular tracks, one that I got a bit tired of but am rediscovering on this disc.

This is a must-have for all Metheny fans in my opinion.

Musical bliss.......2007-01-07

When the Pat Metheny Group released this debut album on ECM in 1978, the musicianship of Pat was already beginning to turn some heads. His previous trio album for ECM in 1976, featuring Jaco Pastoris (bass) and Bob Moses (drums), had forced the world of traditional jazz to take notice of this contemporary sound.

There is not a drab track on this album, and Metheny is joined by an entirely new lineup of musicians: Lyle Mays (piano, autoharp, Oberheim synthesizer), Mark Egan (bass), and Dan Gottlieb (drums). The group really brought new life into the genre. The album starts off with "San Lorenzo", featuring some wonderful piano solos by Mays that will knock your socks off. "Phase Dance" is the most widely recognizable Metheny piece on here, with some great riffs by Pat threading throughout the piece. The track "Jaco" is not really very funky as one might expect, since it was a tribute to bassist Jaco Pastorius, but does show off Egan as a great bassist that knows how to groove to an upbeat. "Aprilwind" is a brief quiet piece that is fairly straightforward in the delivery department. "April Joy" features Pat gracing the guitar in a style we have all grown to love. And finally, "Lone Jack", a track that has a bop feel to it.

Most of the tracks on this release have gone on to become standards in their own right. This album soldified Metheny's place as a gifted composer with an outstanding mastery of his guitar-craft. This is certainly one of the most important contemporary jazz albums ever released. I can never seem to hear enough of it.

The One That Started it All..........2006-06-12

Modern jazz is a difficult thing to categorize. There are so many diverse and idiosyncratic artists, many of whom have a sound that is rooted in jazz, but extends beyond just that. These sounds can be traced back to the 1960s and '70s, as well-known cats like Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, Weather Report, and less-famous but equally skilled ones like bassist Eberhard Weber, guitarist John Abercrombie, and of course sax/violin maverick Ornette Coleman began to experiment with an idea that is still considered blasphemy in the eyes of jazz "purists": integration of what were considered singular styles into jazz. Classical, minimalism, Nordic ambience, contemporary R&B, heavy rock, and free improvisation expanded the jazz landscape, reflecting the increasing tolerance of the times, for better (the magnificence of Weather Report) or worse (Grover Washington, Jr.'s smooth instrumentals, while groundbreaking for their time, influenced a whole generation of no-name knock-offs who eschewed the freedom of self-expression that makes jazz so unique).

The Pat Metheny Group was just a blip on the radar of many of those following this new and exciting music when they burst onto the scene. The dynamic frontman was fresh off of his first two solo albums, having formed his new Group just one year earlier with his new friend and right-hand-man, keyboardist Lyle Mays. After touring extensively and relentlessly searching for that brand new sound, the salvation of these struggling musicians was finally found.

The Pat Metheny Group, or PMG as many fans affectionately call it, has skyrocketed up the path of success since then, but they started off skyrocketing. I've been a die-hard fan of the Group for years, but I was unfamiliar with their roots, so I decided to check this one out. I was stunned. Despite many brilliant albums since 1978, PMG's freshman debut has aged magnificently, remaining one of the finest albums they've ever recorded.

You can credit producer Manfred Eicher for helping to create on the mellow and atmospheric sound the Group has become known for, but the key to the album's success is the songwriting. The Group members were all in their early to mid 20s when this was made, but their musicianship and songcraft give them the characterization of Michelangelo. The buoyant opener "San Lorenzo" captures the happiness and passionate MO of their music, with a stark yet soulful piano solo by Mays that brings to mind the touch of Keith Jarrett. However, Mays holds his own and proves himself a force to be reckoned with. "Phase Dance" continues to expand on the Group's principle of melodic improv and not a single note is out of place.

The great guitarist Pat Metheny is still finding his voice, but for him, that's like saying he's ranked #2 as the greatest guitarist of all time. He is relentless in his creativity, reflecting his Missouri roots with country riffs on "Phase Dance", smoking the axe on the funky "Jaco" only to spread soothing calm one song later on the minstrel-like "April Wind".

Not everyone will appreciate this gem; the mellow yet loud drumming of Dan Gottlieb and the melody lines might convince some listeners that this is just Muzak, which it's not. If anything, it's a thinking man's Muzak: the paintbrush of musicianship engulfs the canvas to create something that ensnares your senses. The throbbing bass of Mark Egan, the guitars, the keyboards, the drums, everything is woven together to create an exquisite feeling of delight. I read a review of this album that said, "The music grows in interest with each listen." As the interest grows, the love grows too. I'm interested enough to hear it again and again.

GRADE: A+

Let me share a memory with you..........2006-04-26

It was 1977 and I was a student at a technical school in Boston, an ardent fan of Jean-Luc Ponty. There was a concert at the Berkley Performance Center where JLP was going to feature pieces from his Enigmatic Ocean release, one of my favorite albums of all time. I was completely oblivious to the warm-up act because I was there to experience Jean-Luc Ponty but at the opening of the show there was a guitar at center stage positioned on a stand where a guitarist need only walk up behind the instrument and begin playing. There it was, its neck jutting at a 45 degree angle, waiting to be brought to life by an appropriate musician. Soon, a floppy-haired guy, accompanied by the other members of his group, bounced onto the stage amongst tentative applause. The floppy-haired guy waved appreciatively at the smattering of recognition from the audience while the other musicians took their places at their respecive instruments. Slung over the back of the floppy-haired guy was another guitar, presumably his principle instrument. To my surprise, the guy bent over the guitar positioned at center stage and began to wail out the opening notes to "Phase Dance," a piece that has to be one of the best works of jazz-fusion of all time. He played several bars of the opening theme then stepped back from the guitar on its stand, reached back over his shoulder, grabbed the guitar slung over his back whipped it around front and proceeded to crank out a solo that could bring tears to one's eyes. I didn't know who the artist was at the time but I knew that he was talented and I made a mental note to remember this artist for future reference. After his group completed his set, Jean-Luc Ponty took the stage and I instantly forgot about the warm-up band.

Several weeks later, a friend approached me and said that Pat Metheny was appearing at a club called the Paradise and would I like to go see him? I replied, "Who's Pat Metheny?" His response was, "Don't worry about it, I know you'll like him." I thought, what the hey.

After we were seated at our table and a round or two of drinks were served, the stage lights came up and there was, at center stage, a guitar on a stand positioned at a 45 degree angle, waiting for a guitarist to approach it from behind, grasp its neck and begin playing it for all it was worth, which is just what happened when some floppy-haired performer bounced onto the stage, wearing another guitar over his back, accompanied by the other menbers of his band. The guitarist bent over the guitar on the stand and seconds later the first bars of Phase Dance were blasted from the speakers onstage.

My eyes widened. I said "That's the guy!!!" That was the night when I began to fully appreciate the artistry of Pat Metheny, his uncanny ability to wrest every ounce of emotion from a guitar, his ability to express every emotion from despair to elation using nothing but his fingers, strings and a geyser of talent.

That night, I went to a music store and bought all of the Pat Metheny Group albums I could find (there were no such things as CDs at that time) and began a journey of exploration into an area of jazz that widened my horizons to an entirely new level. Pat Metheny remains, to this day, the guitarist for whom I hold the utmost respect and in whose talent I stand in awe.

The White Album.......2006-04-20

With the case of most artists throughout the globe, it takes years of toil and sweat to create something that truly sets them apart from the pack, a magnum opus that not only represents the beginning of their prime and earns them legions of admirers but should also please themselves. With the exception of the shoal of half-baked post-grunge/punk/ "new-school rap" robots that plague the American radio airwaves, there are more musicians like this than we have come to believe, and many have earned our admiration and obsession: The Beatles, Yes, Milton Nascimento, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Alicia Keys, and the Pat Metheny Group.

As far as albums are concerned, the Pat Metheny Group's first album comes out swinging for the knockout punch. Every song is strong, not a note is out of place. The simple quartet structure is a far cry from what we've come to expect from PMG (complex, flexible septet sets), but the music remains as tight and fresh as ever, even if it's from 1978. While you can make the argument that "Watercolors" was technically the first PMG debut (everyone on the disc except bassist Mark Egan peformed on that solid yet sometimes dwindling outing), this is where the key was in ignition and the engine was fired up.

It's a true rarity that artists can create something that cannot be classified except unto themselves: this band is one of them. The opening "San Lorenzo" moves fast and smooth, with a buoyant and captivating sense of happiness that came to define the Group's sound. Even though it's a little over 10 minutes long, it never feels that way, and is the coming-out party for a kid in the corner that nobody seems to notice: Lyle Mays. He absolutely shines, with firm support from the jaw-dropping Danny Gottlieb on drums. I prefer this version over the live version because this one has the stronger piano solo.

On the classic "Phase Dance", the guys settle into a comfortable groove, with some mean licks courtesy of Pat, and killer synth lines from Lyle that give this a futuristic touch. The overlooked "Jaco" shows Pat's wide-ranging interest in different styles of music, with a folkie opener that transitions beautifully into cool Steely Dan-esque funk. This tribute to the late and great Mr. Pastorius sadly seems to have been forgotten like its subject matter.

Despite some near-perfect music, the minstel-stylings of "Aprilwind" dwindle a bit, but within about 40 seconds, spectacular jazz chords abound and keep it from being a bit of a navelgazer. The transition to "April Joy", the first song Pat ever wrote by the way, has an atmospheric and Jaco-esque bass line backed up by haunting guitar that simultaneously evokes a frigid flurry and the sun peaking over budding trees on the horizon. "April Joy"'s opening section is nice, but contains an interlude that goes into a slow reprise of "Phase Dance". Either look on it as writer's block or genius. I'll take the latter.

Finally, "Lone Jack" foreshadows the brisk samba stylings the Group would later come to embrace in full force, and ends the album with a bang. If nothing else, listen to a bit of Pat's solo, then fast forward to about 4:07 in the song, where it's just piano and bass. You can thank me later.

n3ur010g1c gives "Pat Metheny Group" a 10...out of 10.3 (~97%)

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