"Laurent Olszer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: >Couldn't agree more with you on this one. Actually everything else I've >heard (briefly) by Pat was by comparison....well, soporific. It made me >wonder if Pat wasn't at his best when playing other people's music. Is >there any other Pat recording which rises up to the level of the S&L solo?
I'd really urge you to reconsider Metheny. I place him solidly in the pantheon of music greats. But don't just take my word for it, ask Joni, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Michael Brecker, Charlie Haden, James Taylor, Jaco (if only we could ask him now!) and countless others who recognize the magnitude of his contribution. And although he is wonderful when playing the music of others, his true calling is his own panoramic musical world. Each to his own, of course, but "soporific" is not an adjective I'd ever use to describe any of his music. May I suggest more coffee? Or perhaps closer, more focused listening? Try these albums: Bright Size Life - his debut, with Jaco on bass (worth it for that alone) Pat Metheny Group (aka "The White Album") First Circle Still Life (Talking) Letter From Home Secret Story Imaginary Day and the recent masterpiece Speaking Of Now. Pat and his primary collaborator, pianist/keyboardist Lyle Mays, have produced an astounding body of work spanning 25 unflaggingly consistent years. It's music on the highest level of imagination, innovation, intelligence, and invention ... soulfully bittersweet and utterly life affirming, weaving multiple genres into a personal tapestry, equally informed by the improvisatory process of jazz and the compositional process of classical music and the accessible buoyancy of pop, performed and recorded according to the highest possible standards of execution, fluency, elegance, grace, and majesty. Music that moves the heart and delights the mind. I often get the same deep joy and satisfaction listening to the Pat Metheny Group as I do listening to The Beatles; indeed, the collaborative team of Metheny/Mays easily recalls that of Lennon/McCartney. -Fred
