By Nick Deriso
The cover art for “Secret Story" on Geffen is telling: There's no central image, but a dizzying patchwork of photographs.
The lineup is much the same: Leave it to Pat Metheny to make a solo album with about 80 other players—including everybody from the Metheny Group and a good portion of the London Orchestra.
I was more concerned with the possible absence of one in particular: But on a rare recording without major input from Lyle Mays, Metheny seemed to have freed up some. He plays acoustic piano on one track; he adds bird noises to another. And, never fear: Mays does appear.
In fact, the album played like a reunion throughout—with bandmates past and present all sitting in. Metheny copped to it, saying more people played on “Secret Story" (his first, er, solo since 1979's “New Chautauqua") “than on all the records I've made combined."
Slight on improvisation, this album is long on flourish—from the frentic voices of the Choir of the Cambodian Royal Palace in the first half to the crashing entrace of full orchestration toward the end. Metheny has only rarely explored straight-ahead jazz—notably on the aforementioned “80/81" and the superb “Questions and Answers."
His interests seem to lie more in the hybrid; once I accepted that, I came to understand why experiments like this one succeed so completely.
A song like “Finding and Believing," which is broken up into three sections, comes across as the natural fruition of his best Metheny Group records—with the added wooosh of strings. An intriguing record, one that is perhaps better early in the proceedings.
“Secret Story" is nothing if not subtle at times, though, meaning it must be listened to loudly and often.
The cover art for “Secret Story" on Geffen is telling: There's no central image, but a dizzying patchwork of photographs.
The lineup is much the same: Leave it to Pat Metheny to make a solo album with about 80 other players—including everybody from the Metheny Group and a good portion of the London Orchestra.
I was more concerned with the possible absence of one in particular: But on a rare recording without major input from Lyle Mays, Metheny seemed to have freed up some. He plays acoustic piano on one track; he adds bird noises to another. And, never fear: Mays does appear.
In fact, the album played like a reunion throughout—with bandmates past and present all sitting in. Metheny copped to it, saying more people played on “Secret Story" (his first, er, solo since 1979's “New Chautauqua") “than on all the records I've made combined."
Slight on improvisation, this album is long on flourish—from the frentic voices of the Choir of the Cambodian Royal Palace in the first half to the crashing entrace of full orchestration toward the end. Metheny has only rarely explored straight-ahead jazz—notably on the aforementioned “80/81" and the superb “Questions and Answers."
His interests seem to lie more in the hybrid; once I accepted that, I came to understand why experiments like this one succeed so completely.
A song like “Finding and Believing," which is broken up into three sections, comes across as the natural fruition of his best Metheny Group records—with the added wooosh of strings. An intriguing record, one that is perhaps better early in the proceedings.
“Secret Story" is nothing if not subtle at times, though, meaning it must be listened to loudly and often.
