etherbored Posted February 11, 2005 Report Posted February 11, 2005 As I noted before, I have the new one and the album with Jaco Pastorius the name of which escapes me at the moment. bright size life... -e- Quote
Alfred Posted February 12, 2005 Report Posted February 12, 2005 As I noted before, I have the new one and the album with Jaco Pastorius the name of which escapes me at the moment. bright size life... -e- YES! One of my favorites. The Japan Gold Edition sounds fantastic. Quote
etherbored Posted February 12, 2005 Report Posted February 12, 2005 The Japan Gold Edition sounds fantastic. YES it does... , -e- Quote
Jazzmoose Posted March 12, 2005 Report Posted March 12, 2005 etherbored, I'd say the comments of that review were accurate in ways, but on the otherhand I don't see them as negatives, so apparently the reviewer is coming from a far different point than I. I've listened to this one several times now, and there's no denial that it is heavily influenced by old Metheny themes, but I think it sounds great. Alexander, as far as recommendations, I'd have to split mine into two directions. For Pat Metheny, I'd go with the Trio 99-00 recording, or the live version if you feel like springing for a 2 cd set. For the Pat Metheny Group, I guess I'd go with Offramp or Secret Story, although my personal favorite is As Falls Witchita, So Falls Witchita Falls. If you're the type that often finds himself saying, of this music or that, "that's not jazz", stick with the trio stuff... Quote
Joe G Posted March 16, 2005 Report Posted March 16, 2005 TWU is reviewed this week in.... People Magazine! 3 out of 4 stars!!! Quote
rostasi Posted March 16, 2005 Report Posted March 16, 2005 AMG (Four and a half) I picked this up last Thursday, but haven't listened yet. Just going on what I heard at one of the store's "listening stations." Quote
Jazzmoose Posted March 16, 2005 Report Posted March 16, 2005 TWU is reviewed this week in.... People Magazine! 3 out of 4 stars!!! Talk about news that makes you uncomfortable.... Quote
RudyC Posted March 23, 2005 Report Posted March 23, 2005 just actually won it in a draw, litened to it and it is pretty un-real!! my brother actually played with/for him in minniapolis about 3 weeks ago on his way up album!! I wont tell right now.... but go ahead ask who my brother is and what he played... you'll never guess! Quote
Aggie87 Posted March 23, 2005 Report Posted March 23, 2005 I'm confused (doesn't take much!) You won this cd in a drawing? You think it's a good one? Your brother played with Pat in Minneapolis 3 weeks ago? Your brother is ON the recording?? Who is your brother? What did he play? Quote
Michael Fitzgerald Posted March 23, 2005 Report Posted March 23, 2005 Gotta disagree with the recommendation of Secret Story as being somehow representative of the Pat Metheny Group - it's not a Group album at all. (I also think it's not a good album at all, but I won't get into that.) I also find Offramp to be an odd selection for starting out - my pick for a PMG startoff would be Travels, the live album (from the Offramp tour) which includes the early stuff (Phase Dance, San Lorenzo), the later stuff (Are You Going With Me), an abridged As Falls Wichita, plus a bunch of wonderful new pieces that weren't ever recorded elsewhere. Plus it has the lineup with Danny Gottlieb and Nana Vasconcelos. It brings in the Brazilian elements that were a big part of the next decade or so, but I think it does them better and with less "slickification". I'm going to see the band next weekend. Have only heard parts of the new record. I'll have to pick it up before the show. Or maybe I won't. I remember the excitement of hearing the band in 1989 on the "pre-record" tour when they played most of the Letter From Home album before it was recorded. All those tunes didn't even have titles at that point. It was quite a different experience hearing that stuff fresh without any references. Mike Quote
7/4 Posted March 23, 2005 Report Posted March 23, 2005 just actually won it in a draw, litened to it and it is pretty un-real!! my brother actually played with/for him in minniapolis about 3 weeks ago on his way up album!! I wont tell right now.... but go ahead ask who my brother is and what he played... you'll never guess! kazoo? Quote
RudyC Posted March 23, 2005 Report Posted March 23, 2005 i won the cd in a draw. and close on the kazoo!! it was actually slide wistle!!! my old high school emails with pat almost everyday and he invited them down to play at the concert... the reason it was slide wistle was becasue his mew album (the one this thread is about) starts off wit htoy instrumets pitched in b and f# and they palyed at the begining at the concerty then went to there seats. before the concert they had about 1 hour with pat and the band to ask questions. i coundlt go cuz i got a speeding ticket Quote
Michael Fitzgerald Posted April 3, 2005 Report Posted April 3, 2005 Just got back from the show at the Beacon - final date of the US tour, I believe. Having seen the band going back to the 1980s, I wouldn't place this show as one of the best. It was very long - going on three hours - and not all that interesting. Following a short solo guitar thing (incl. This Is Not America), the entire new record is the opening hour, which takes balls but I don't know if it's really that wise. Even back when As Falls Wichita was new, the PMG did an abbreviated version and placed it later in the show. I had not heard the entire album before seeing the show. There are definite moments that could be "the end" - and then the piece keeps going. It got to be kind of tiresome. I know it's all one piece and I could hear the recurring musical themes, and unlike much of the audience, I myself have good bladder control and don't have an MTV attention span, but I wished the pacing had been better. The instrument changes got to be kind of obsessive - I mean, for Christ's sake, when even the drummer straps on an electric bass for a couple of minutes..... Would anyone really miss that bass part? OK, so these three guys in the back (Gregoire Maret, Cuong Vu, and Nando Lauria) are multi-talented - enough already. I got absolutely no sense that any of them had any kind of musical personality. They were perpetually doing something else. When Pat had Pedro Aznar in the band, who played a billion things, I still felt he was more of an integral part of the group than these three utility players. The second half of the concert is a little retrospective highlights deal. Go Get It - guitar/drums duo; James (from Offramp) as a trio with bass - very rhythmically loose compared to the original; Lone Jack (back from the white PMG record) as a quartet with piano; Last Train Home (from Still Life Talking); now I'm starting to forget the sequence - Into The Dream (pikasso guitar) then Are You Going With Me (again from Offramp) with Lyle Mays playing fake harmonica vs. Maret's real harmonica; Always And Forever (from Secret Story) - guitar/harmonica duet; The Roots Of Coincidence (from Imaginary Day); Lyle Mays keyboard solo moving into Farmer's Trust (from Travels) duet with Pat on nylon string; finishing up with the fast section of Minuano (from Still Life). Encore was Song For Bilbao (from Travels) which was nice to hear, as that is a favorite era of the band for me. I think I got everything. There was a definite attempt to present a variety of tunes from the nearly 30 years of the PMG. However, too often there was a climax and then another climax and then another. I think this is partly because they have too much repertoire to choose from - I do give them credit because they haven't just abandoned the earlier stuff. Sound reproduction wasn't as good as I remember PMG shows having in the past. A lot of stuff seemed to end up being just a big wash, rather than hearing all the distinct instruments. I hear people think drummer Antonio Sanchez is so wonderful, but I liked Wertico (and Gottlieb before him). Lyle Mays was quite unimpressive - and I have been quite a fan of him, unlike some. I will pick up the new album - I liked the later portions of it more than the earlier, fwiw. Mike Quote
Michael Fitzgerald Posted April 3, 2005 Report Posted April 3, 2005 Post script - I wanted to mention that I do like how Metheny has built his own instrumentarium - he's got sounds that are his own, whether different guitars or unusual instruments - harmonica, melodica, fretless bass, electric sitar, marimba, wordless vocals, certain synthesizer patches. Remembering that this group started out as guitar, piano, fretless bass, drums - you've come a long way, baby. But even then he started on his way, using electric 12-string with different tunings, adding the autoharp, Oberheim 4-voice synthesizer, the Nashville-strung guitar, etc. The Ibanez guitar he's playing now didn't seem to have the same definition as his Gibson, btw. Mike Quote
CJ Shearn Posted April 3, 2005 Author Report Posted April 3, 2005 I disagree Mike. His blonde Ibanez prototype sounds more like his Gibson than the black Ibanez he was using for a little while. His blonde prototype is really an almost exact copy of his 175, which was taken to Japan, and copied. As a sidebar I'm watching a DVD I made from a bit torrent of an American Garage show in 1980, it sure is a hoot! Quote
Michael Fitzgerald Posted April 3, 2005 Report Posted April 3, 2005 I never saw him live with the black guitar, so I can't say anything about that. What I heard last night just didn't match with my recollection of how he sounded live (in other seats in other venues in other years) with the 175. Lots of factors could be affecting what I'm hearing - some or all of which could be conscious on his part. Maybe I'm just nostalgic for older shows. Mike Quote
CJ Shearn Posted April 3, 2005 Author Report Posted April 3, 2005 I wonder when the new trio release will hit. BTW, the black Ibanez is featured on the We Live Here and Imaginary Day DVD's. Quote
Michael Fitzgerald Posted May 7, 2005 Report Posted May 7, 2005 I got the new album last week and have listened a few times. I like it better than what I remember from the live show. I think it's notable that this record contains passages that are the most "plain jazz" of anything ever put out by the PMG. In the past, it seems such things were reserved for Metheny solo albums. One of these passages has an incredible guitar solo that seems to be just a little faster, just a little cleaner, just a little more together than what's gone before. Still would be nice to have some track points. Mike Quote
Joe G Posted May 7, 2005 Report Posted May 7, 2005 (edited) I assume you're talking about Part l... I was delighted to hear Rodby playing an uptempo walking bassline as well. The unison line played by the trumpet and guitar is a kick, too. I think my favorite moment is in part 2, where they come out of those chord arpeggios into the melody played by the harmonica (forshadowing the end with Richard Bona's vocals), then playing the same melody but switching to 5 underneath. Pretty cool music there. Edited May 7, 2005 by Joe G Quote
Guest Posted March 22, 2006 Report Posted March 22, 2006 i agree mike in that the new 1/2 of the show was a little strange with the instrument changes and the piece did at some sound rather dated in the 80s PMG sound- but that doesnt bother me too much because i enjoy that 80s group sound of theres-=--but i did expect a little more at the same time however i disagree about your assesemnt of the mult. climaxes because i enjoyed the setlist and how pat would mellow out and than take you back into the patmetheny zone- you know, like when he gets real into one of his crazy guitar synth solos. Maybe it is just my human nature that i enjoyed the shows multiple climaxes, and you prefer, a short, single climax- as you wish Quote
_forumlogo.png.a607ef20a6e0c299ab2aa6443aa1f32e.png)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.