Jazz Articles about Pat Metheny

Pat Metheny/Ornette Coleman: Song X: Twentieth Anniversary

by Chris May
March 31, 2008

Pat Metheny/Ornette Coleman Song X: Twentieth Anniversary Nonesuch Records 2005 The untrammeled pleasure Pat Metheny has given this listener over the last couple of months with the freewheeling trio album Day Trip (Nonesuch Records, 2008) has prompted a trawl through the guitarist's back catalogue in search of another solid gold fix.

It's been a lot of fun--with the highlights including two other trio sets, Trio 99-00 (Warner Bros, 1999) and ...

Pat Metheny: Day Trip

by Francis Lo Kee
March 10, 2008

Pat Metheny's -Day Trip gets underway with the up-tempo “Son of Thirteen," bringing to mind the best of his playing, which combines the seemingly contradictory qualities of explosive virtuosity and tender lyricism. In his wheelhouse, the guitarist also knows how to feature the talents of collaborators (eg, Jaco Pastorius on Metheny's 1976 ECM debut as a leader, Bright Size Life) and it's clear from the first two tracks that bassist Christian McBride and drummer Antonio Sanchez will contribute mightily to ...

Pat Metheny: Day Trip

by Doug Collette
February 2, 2008

Pat Metheny has not recorded with a trio for upwards of eight years, but Day Trip certainly makes the wait worth it. The simplicity of its approach will, no doubt, appeal to those fans of the guitarist who relish his primary virtues as an improvising instrumentalist. But it will no doubt foster revelations in Pat Metheny Group aficionados who can rediscover his core virtues.

Judging from the impeccable new disc, Metheny, along with comrades drummer Antonio Sanchez and Christian McBride, ...

Pat Metheny: Day Trip

by John Kelman
January 24, 2008

While the trio format isn't new to guitarist Pat Metheny, Day Trip does represent a number of firsts. And with only one minor quibble, if it's not the best trio record he's released since Bright Size Life (ECM, 1976), it's pretty darn close.

It's his first trio record to consist of all-original material. And, with the exception of the simmering waltz “When We Were Free," from Pat Metheny Group's Quartet (Nonesuch, 1996) and the rock/reggae-tinged “The ...

Pat Metheny: Day Trip

by Chris May
January 22, 2008

It's way too early in the New Year to be making sensible predictions, but hey, let's drive in the center of the road for a moment: if guitarist Pat Metheny's Day Trip doesn't end up amongst the top half-dozen albums of 2008, some very powerful voodoo indeed must be coming round the corner.

Day Trip is, unquestionably, amongst Metheny's best ever discs, up there with previous masterpieces like Song X (Nonesuch, 1985), made with saxophonist Ornette Coleman, and ...

Pat Metheny Trio in Concert: Bright Lights in Vermont

by Doug Collette
November 10, 2007

Pat Metheny Trio Flynn Center for The Performing Arts Burlington, Vermont October 19, 2007

It's always enlightening to see Pat Metheny perform live but perhaps never more so than on his current tour. With drummer Antonio Sanchez and bassist Christina McBride, the Missouri native is one of three brilliant equals when he takes the stage as he did in Vermont on this October night.

The compositional aspect of Metheny's work that prevails with ...

Pat Metheny: Secret Story: Deluxe Edition

by John Kelman
October 20, 2007

If The Way Up (Nonesuch, 2005) is Pat Metheny Group's magnum opus, then Secret Story is the guitarist's greatest achievement as a solo artist to date. A sprawling, 76-minute epic featuring a wealth of guest artists, members of a symphony orchestra and Metheny playing countless parts on an arsenal of guitars and keyboards, its only flaw has been the comparably thin sound that marred much of his Geffen-era work. Secret Story: Deluxe Edition not only gives the album the sonic ...