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Pat Metheny / Brad Mehldau: Metheny Mehldau
by David Miller
What happens when two of the most distinct and polarizing musical voices of a generation meet to collaborate on a recording? One might assume there would be a litany of dissonance with patches of too-infrequent beauty, leaving the listener mulling over the potential of such a landmark collaboration. But with Metheny Mehldau, the aptly titled release by guitarist Pat Metheny and pianist Brad Mehldau, the opposite is in evidence. While showing unique styles on their respective instruments, it is quite ...
Continue ReadingPat Metheny / Brad Mehldau: Metheny Mehldau
by John Kelman
Guitarist Pat Metheny may not be old, but he's been around long enough to be considered an influential artist who can start giving something back to younger players. Pianist Brad Mehldau, still in his mid-thirties, has already established himself as one of his generation's most significant artists. Metheny has always been selective about his musical associations, but an encounter between these two musicians somehow seemed inevitable. Metheny Mehldau is Metheny's first significant collaboration with a pianist other than his long-time ...
Continue ReadingA Trio of Pat Metheny Group Reissues
by John Kelman
Why artists and/or record labels choose to release remastered versions of pre-existing material can range from the purely artistic to the shamelessly monetary. Sometimes it's a case of getting material, previously out-of-print, back into the marketplace for people who, for whatever reason, didn't pick the material up the first time around. Sometimes the target audience is the existing fan base, through promises of radically improved sonics and, in some cases, the inclusion of previously unreleased tracks. But with the volume ...
Continue ReadingPat Metheny Trio + 1
by C. Andrew Hovan
Pat Metheny Trio + 1 Hill Auditorium (University of Michigan) October 8, 2005
Not letting any grass grow under his feet, Pat Metheny wasted no time after wrapping up a tour in support of the group album The Way Up before hitting the road again with his trio. First getting together with bassist Christian McBride and regular drummer Antonio Sanchez in 2003, Metheny has reunited with these master musicians in addition to saxophonist David Sanchez for ...
Continue ReadingPat Metheny Trio+1: First Stop Seattle
by Ryan Burns
Pat Metheny Trio+1 September 7, 2005 Jazz Alley Seattle, WASeptember 7-9, Jazz Alley hosted the first stop of Pat Metheny's current Trio+1 tour. Playing for the first time at Seattle's longest running jazz club (3rd internationally), Metheny performed six sold-out shows along with band members Christian McBride, Antonio Sanchez, and David Sanchez. I caught the second set of the first night of performances.SOLOThe evening started with Metheny finger-picking solo guitar to ...
Continue ReadingPat Metheny/Ornette Coleman: Song X: Twentieth Anniversary
by AAJ Staff
Metheny fans who hadn't already caught the clues on 80/81 (ECM, 1980) or Rejoicing (ECM, 1984) were in for an electric shock when they hit play on the original Song X back in 1986... and more than a few copies immediately landed in resale bins as a result. The truth, not exactly a mystery--but still a surprise to those who considered Metheny a marshmallow man at heart--is that the guitarist has always been tied into the music of Ornette Coleman. ...
Continue ReadingPat Metheny/Ornette Coleman: Song X: Twentieth Anniversary
by John Kelman
Back in 1985 when Pat Metheny released Song X, his collaboration with free jazz/harmolodics progenitor Ornette Coleman, it came as a big shock to fans familiar with the more overt melodicism of the Pat Metheny Group. Sure, there'd been hints that Metheny's seemingly insatiable appetite to experience all things musical also included excursions into free territory, including albums like 80/81, Offramp, and Rejoicing. But in those cases the free tracks were one-offs--and surrounded by his more lyrical material, which was ...
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