Kenny Garrett - Pursuance: The Music Of John Coltrane (1996)

Kenny Garrett - Pursuance: The Music Of John Coltrane (1996)

While clearly paying homage to Coltrane Kenny Garrett is such a huge talent that he creates something here that is uniquely his own. Never imitative the tunes have the spirit of Coltrane's versions while incorporating a bright texture that centers on Garrett's alto but is certainly enhanced by the addition of Pat Methany. Brian Blades is amazing as always. This guy is Max Roach and Tony Williams in one package. What a drummer ! Overall this is a very fine collection and Garrett can play both melodically sweet and on the edge in a way that makes him one of this eras finest jazz musicians. Highly recommended.

01. Countdown (3:42)

02. Equinox (7:38)

03. Liberia (7:33)

04. Dear Lord (5:53)

05. Lonnie's Lament (5:23)

06. After the Rain (7:21)

07. Like Sonny (6:13)

08. Pursuance (6:05)

09. Alabama (6:10)

10. Giant Steps (3:23)

11. Latifa (5:47)

Kenny Garrett (alto saxophone)

Pat Metheny (guitars)

Rodney Whitaker (bass)

Brian Blade (drums)

Pat Metheny Group: Letter from Home (1989)

Pat Metheny Group: Letter from Home (1989)

Pat Metheny (Guitars, Midi.), Lyle Mays (Piano,Keyboards.), Pedro Aznar (Voice, Percussion.), Steve Rodby (Bass.), Paul Wertico (Drums), Armando Marcal (Percussion) .

Tracks

1. Have You Heard

2. Every Summer Night

3. Better Days Ahead

4. Spring Ain't Here

5. 45/8

6. 5-5-7

7. Beat 70

8. Dream Of The Return

9. Are We There Yet

10. Vidala

11. Slip Away

12. Letter From Home

A jazz-fusion classic from Pat Metheny's mid-30s, steeped in joy and sensuality. The guitarist's singing, soaring, shimmering sound is tinged with yearning, occasionally sadness--that's a crucial, overlooked aspect of his musical voice. The talented lineup flies assuredly with the brilliant leader, who mans several varieties of acoustic, electric, and synthesized guitars. The electronics of keyboardist Lyle Mays, straight from American front parlors and chapels, brings just the right amount of twist to Metheny's lacings of folk and rock. More shadings and fire come from Mays's accordion and trumpet, and the versatile Pedro Aznar's vocals, marimba, vibes, charango, melodica, and percussion. All but two tracks are by Metheny. His ability to write complex but accessible tunes is undeniable, and his arrangements are inspired. --Peter Monaghan

Michael Brecker: Tales from the Hudson (1996)

MICHAEL BRECKER

Tales from the Hudson (1996)

Track listing

All tracks composed by Michael Brecker; except where indicated

   1. "Slings and Arrows" — 6:19
   2. "Midnight Voyage" (Joey Calderazzo) — 7:17
   3. "Song for Bilbao" (Pat Metheny) — 5:44
   4. "Beau Rivage" — 7:38
   5. "African Skies" — 8:12
   6. "Introduction to the Naked Soul" — 1:41
   7. "Naked Soul" — 8:43
   8. "Willie T." (Don Grolnick) — 8:13
   9. "Cabin Fever" — 6:59

Personnel

    * Michael Brecker — tenor saxophone
    * Pat Metheny — guitar, guitar synth
    * Joey Calderazzo — piano
    * Dave Holland — bass
    * Jack DeJohnette — drums
    * McCoy Tyner — piano (Tracks 3 and 5)
    * Don Alias — percussion


In the crowded field of excellent tenor players, Michael Brecker rises to the top of my list. I think the thing that gives Brecker an edge over the others is the fact that he is a master of so many genres of jazz. Many people are no doubt familiar with the electric, funky side of Michael Brecker as the co-leader of the Brecker Brothers and former member of Steps Ahead. He has done significant pop dates with Paul Simon, Carly Simon, and Joni Mitchell. One could easily fill a CD collection with albums on which he has performed as a sideman in many jazz contexts.

Yet this is only his fourth CD as a leader. All of them have been in the modern, progressive, straight-ahead jazz vein. This one is, to my ears, his most successful outing yet. I think the difference is that this one is a little less "progressive" or "outside." The melodies here are a little more accessible and memorable, yet the soloing is just as creative and adventuresome as we have come to expect from Brecker and the other jazz luminaries on this CD. The top-notch team of sidemen here are Pat Metheny on guitar, Jack DeJohnette on drums, Dave Holland on bass, and Joey Calderazzo on piano. Pianist McCoy Tyner and percussionist Don Alias are added on two tunes.

Six of the nine compositions are Brecker's. They are varied, thoughtful, and provide great vehicles for improvisation. Metheny contributes "Bilbao" from his Travels album, Calderazzo contributes a medium tempo swinger, and "Willie T." comes from the late pianist Don Grolnick, who produced Brecker's first two solo albums and performed with Brecker frequently.

I would especially recommend this album to those who have come to jazz through the "new adult comtemporary" door and are ready to take the next step towards discovering what real jazz is all about.

Pat Metheny & Ornette Coleman: Song X

Amazon.com essential recording
Pat Metheny confounded fans and critics alike with this opening salvo for his new label, Geffen, delivering among the most uninhibited, collective meltdowns ever released on a major pop label. Song X served notice that this was one artist who refused to be pigeonholed. In joining forces with jazz maverick Ornette Coleman, Metheny midwifed a compelling declaration of principles on behalf of experimental musicians. Jack DeJohnette and Denardo Coleman throw down on acoustic and electronic percussion, and stalwart bassist Charlie Haden holds down the time. Metheny and Coleman journey through the interstellar regions of collective improvisation on the saxophonist's fulminating title tune and "Video Games" (with Metheny's room-full-of-mirrors synth guitar inventions) while unleashing a horde of killer bees on "Endangered Species." Still, for all the collective freneticism, the lyrical, swinging side of each artist is well represented on the Tex-Mex airs of "Trigonometry," the bluesy "Mob Job" and the elegant "Kathleen Grey." --Chip Stern

PAT METHENY: BRIGHT SIZE LIFE

Amazon.com essential recording
Larger ensembles may have provided Pat Metheny with his most visible successes, but he's repeatedly fired up his most fluid and personal playing in leaner trio settings, starting with this, his 1976 debut as a leader. Bob Moses brings both delicacy and effortless dynamics to his drumming, but it's the late Jaco Pastorius's lyrical electric bass that clinches the guitarist's coming-out party: with Metheny already displaying the liquid tone and exquisite touch that define his sound, old friend Pastorius radiates a sympathetic lyricism and unerring sense of swing. Metheny would match, but not transcend, this level of interplay in justly celebrated troikas with Charlie Haden and Billy Higgins (on Rejoicing) and Dave Holland and Roy Haynes (on Question and Answer). --Sam Sutherland.

PAT METHENY : TRIO 99 --> 00

Think "Pat Metheny trio record" and you'll probably recall his groundbreaking Bright Size Life or the more abstract Rejoicing (with Charlie Haden and Billy Higgins) or even Question and Answer (Dave Holland, Roy Haynes). Well, keep thinking. Trio 99-00 is the popular guitarist-composer's most straight-ahead, no-muss, no-fuss recording yet. Recorded over two days with the remarkable team of drummer Bill Stewart and bassist Larry Grenadier, Trio 99-00 covers much compositional and stylistic ground but is essentially a hard-bop-tinged blowing session. Metheny's Sonny Rollins-ish originals include "(Go) Get It," "Soul Cowboy" (featuring amazing chordal guitar), "What Do You Want?" and a blazing trio variation on "Lone Jack," which appeared on the first Pat Metheny Group album. Unusual choices are made throughout: a sensually swinging "Giant Steps," an elegant "A Lot of Livin' to Do," and inclusion of Wayne Shorter's queasy gem, "Capricorn." And as always, Pat can't help but get sentimental on acoustic guitar, culminating in the first studio rendition of "Travels." This isn't for the faint-hearted, nor those waiting for another PMG travelogue like We Live Here or Letter from Home. This is pure jazz slam, a trio showdown with the gloves off. --Ken Micallef

PAT METHENY : REJOICING

Metheny joins bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Billy Higgins, one of Ornette Coleman's finest rhythm pairings, for this 1983 recording. Rejoicing looks closely at Coleman's group dynamics and three of his tunes (though it's Horace Silver's "Lonely Woman," not Coleman's, that opens the album). The three mesh perfectly on Coleman's "Tears Inside," "Humpty Dumpty," and "Rejoicing," with Metheny generating long lines of melody over sprung rhythms. While the guitarist often shifts musical direction from CD to CD, his compositions on Rejoicing offer remarkable contrasts. He creates a rich overdub of electric and acoustic guitars for the ballad "Story from a Stranger," then generates an almost Albert Ayler-like sound for the intensely electric dirge "The Calling," the mood enhanced by Haden's bowed bass and animated by Higgins's free drumming. --Stuart Broomer