Jazz Articles about Pat Metheny

like 308

Metheny Mehldau: Quartet

by Stephen Wood
March 6, 2007

One sure sign of musicianship is adaptability. And it is precisely because Pat Metheny and Brad Mehldau possess this very quality that Quartet is so captivating. I find it hard to imagine how a pair of musicians could deliver such a subtly different mood in their second release than in their first. But the guitarist and pianist have come through with an album that remains deeply committed to melody and harmony, while concomitantly preserving the right to deviate from those ...

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Pat Metheny / Brad Mehldau: Metheny Mehldau

by Stephen Wood
February 1, 2007

For anyone who forgot how the intimacy of a guitar and piano duo could emblazon musical ideas, just look to Pat Metheny and Brad Mehldau's first collaboration, Metheny Mehldau. In many ways this record continues the conversation between guitar and piano begun by Jim Hall and Bill Evans nearly fifty years before.

But that is not to say that Metheny and Mehldau have fallen into predictable patterns. Both have managed to preserve unique voices that propitiously bolster the ...

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Pat Metheny: Another Phase Dance

by Doug Collette
December 11, 2006

Through the course of a career that now exceeds thirty years in the limelight, guitarist Pat Metheny has never ceased to surprise. No matter the context within which he chooses to play—his flagship Pat Metheny Group, in a trio, as a collaborator with figures including bassist Charlie Haden or as a guest in large projects such as the recent NYC tribute to minimalist composer Steve Reich—the Missouri-born guitarist and composer will not allow himself to become predictable.Given how ...

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Pat Metheny / Brad Mehldau: Metheny Mehldau

by CJ Shearn
October 24, 2006

This collaboration between Pat Metheny and Brad Mehldau reveals them to be a perfect match for each other. Although they have contrasting, profoundly personal approaches, they share a certain admiration for each other's music. Metheny was transfixed upon hearing the pianist's playing on the minor-key piece “Chill, from Joshua Redman's Moodswing (Warner Bros, 1994), while “Are You Going With Me? from the Pat Metheny Group's essential Travels (ECM, 1983) was the tune that converted Mehldau to a lifelong appreciation. This ...

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Pat Metheny Group: The Way Up - Live

by CJ Shearn
October 22, 2006

Pat Metheny Group The Way Up--Live Eagle Eye Media 2006

The Pat Metheny Group expands on its masterpiece with this live performance. Throughout the group's 27 year existence, these musicians have consistently redefined what a contemporary jazz ensemble can be, and who they are as a band, each album containing something of immense value. This DVD captures the full-length version of Metheny's composition “The Way Up," as performed live in Korea. The ...

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Pat Metheny Group: The Way Up Live

by John Kelman
October 20, 2006

Pat Metheny GroupThe Way Up LiveEagle Eye Media 2006 One of most exciting aspects of live performance is the opportunity to see how a group translates music from the studio to the concert stage. With production values that more closely resemble those of a marquee rock group, the nearly three-decade-old Pat Metheny Group has long been renowned for marathon sets that integrate vivid staging with electrifying sounds to make their shows an unforgettable experience. ...

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Pat Metheny / Brad Mehldau: Metheny Mehldau

by Steve Holtje
October 8, 2006

A pianist and a guitarist, both known for beautiful ballad playing, get together for an album of mostly duos. Snooze city, right? That's what I thought after the first track. Boy, was I wrong. This thing is intense! Not that the opening number, written by Mehldau (everything's original; he wrote three, Metheny seven) is sleepytime; I'd just made the mistake of trying to listen to it in the background while I did something else. When Metheny's “Ahmid-6 followed, it grabbed ...