Day Trip Musical Ride Is Worth It.
Pat Metheny and Friends Invite You To Jazz Up Your Day
Nov 30, 2008
In The past three years Pat Metheny has released an album with the Pat Metheny Group, reuniting with pianist Lyle Mays. He recorded two quartet albums with virtuosic piano master Brad Mehldau. His latest ‘Day Trip’, released earlier this year, employs the talents of the leading bassist of the 90’s generation Christian McBride.
Playing In Great Trios
'Day Trip' is a gift to all of his fans who love to hear him in a trio setting; just naked guitar, drums and bass. Many critics claim that some of his best works can be heard when he is playing with a trio. 1989’s 'Question And Answer' with Dave Holland & Roy Haynes is to many an example of his best trio work.
He also began the new millennium by touring and releasing two albums of trio music that is still treasured by many of his fans.
Joining Metheny and McBride on this musical ride is drummer Antonio Sanchez. He keeps the music tight in the pocket as Metheny picks, prods, glisses and seduces our ears with speedy arpeggios, then soothes us with very lyrical melodies; occasionally stepping out of the way for McBride to give us his views.
Sanchez reminds us that he is there with the occasional and necessary flourish and cymbal snap.
Standout tracks are: ‘Is This America” (Katrina 2005). It is pure Americana, country blues, blended with folk, jazz and a hint of the political. ‘Calvin’s Keys’ is a trippy jaunty ride and the lyrical ‘When we were Free’ is only enhanced by his use of the synth in the last third of the track.
To sum it up - Pat Metheny’s Day Trip rocks in a totally jazz fashion.
Releasing Past Work That’s Still Fresh.
Pat Metheny was not finished for the year either, because before the dust settled on this, release 'Tokyo Day Trip' hit stores as an EP. It was culled from some live concert recordings he had done a few years earlier with the same trio.
'Tokyo Day Trip' EP has four flowing tunes including two really long ones, which are over nine minutes each.
The other two come in at a mere six minutes plus. All of the tunes are again originals of Pat’s that makes room for his band mates to stretch out and display their immense talent.
Three months later he re-released the long out of print ‘Question And Answer’. This was another reward for his fans. Many late – comers to his music had only heard about this album.
Over the years, as if for consolation, the title track was re-worked on a few albums, notably the one he recorded with Gary Burton, Chick Corea and other friends. It was a Gary Burton led excursion.
Collaborating In Warsaw.
The year is still not over, but he has released yet another one. Upojene is a re-release of the work he did with Polish singer Anna Maria Jopek, who approached him after a concert in Warsaw in 2001. Metheny agreed to collaborate with her and together they went into the studios armed with music, some written and arranged by Jopek’s husband Marcin Kydrynski. . Four months later Upojene was ready. It was first released in 2002.
All of these recordings were released on Nonesuch Records.
Pat like most innovators is not content to sit on his achievements. He keeps wanting to make more, hear more and achieve much more musically; his eager fans can hardly wait.
