donn@utah-gr.UUCP (Donn Seeley) (12/04/84)
I agree with a lot of Dave Taylor's comments, being a fan of ECM jazz, but I am puzzled by his dislike of Pat Metheny's latest album, FIRST CIRCLE. He says: Yech! This is the only BAD album I am including here. Somehow it is very indicative that this album, probably the worst they have ever come out with, is now #86 (or so) on the billboard charts! The music here is a lot of remixes of stuff off of previous albums - either too 'caterwaulingly wailing' (hows THAT for a phrase!) or just plain rip-offs of their earlier stuff - no creative new work! I'm not entirely sure why Dave seems to think FIRST CIRCLE is more derivative than Pat's other albums; in particular Pat's first three albums with Lyle Mays -- WATERCOLORS, PAT METHENY GROUP, and AMERICAN GARAGE -- have distinct similarities (and dissimilarities!). FIRST CIRCLE is certainly no more 'commercial' than PAT METHENY GROUP or AMERICAN GARAGE, which were both smash successes, by the way. I'm having a hard time figuring out what Dave means by 'caterwauling wailing'; it's true that Metheny can make a guitar synthesizer sound like a large feline undergoing vivisection without anesthesia (for instance in 'The Calling' on the album REJOICING) but there's little of that on FIRST CIRCLE (too bad -- I actually like it, most of the time). Perhaps Dave is referring to Pedro Aznar's vocals, but if so I don't understand why Dave would think they were any stranger than Nana Vasconcelos' vocals on earlier albums... When I saw Metheny in concert recently, I hadn't heard FIRST CIRCLE yet; so I was completely floored when the group opened with 'Forward March', literally marching down the aisles with their instruments and doing a creditable impression of a high school marching band on LSD. When they played 'The First Circle' they did a beautiful job with a beautiful piece, and their obvious enthusiasm for it swept the audience. When I bought the album later I was treated to a delicious little thrill by the magnificent photograph on the back that finally made the connection in my mind (if you haven't seen the picture, try to guess what it shows...). Other nice pieces on FIRST CIRCLE are 'Take It All', which combines pop and blues, and 'Yolanda, You Learn', a straightforward fusion piece by a band that knows how to do it right. Metheny is just an amazingly eclectic musician. If this album is on the Billboard charts, it deserves it. I wholeheartedly agree with Dave that REJOICING is a great album, although it is definitely not a strictly acoustic trio as Dave's review implies -- the first side is Metheny indulging his love for Ornette Coleman tunes, showing how much his electric guitar technique has improved over the last few years, and the second side is original compositions featuring overdubs and guitar synthesizer. 'Story from a Stranger' is a beautiful meditative piece that remindes me of Bill Connors' SWIMMING WITH A HOLE IN MY BODY, while 'The Calling' is a raucous 10-minute experiment in free playing and a lot of fun. REJOICING is probably not an album for pop/fusion fans, but you never know -- you might surprise yourself. If you like REJOICING then you should try Metheny's first album, BRIGHT SIZE LIFE, a trio that includes Jaco Pastorius: this trio really DID do nightclubs, up and down the East Coast. (Pat was all of 19 years old when he joined Gary Burton's band... I sure wish he would record 'Midwestern Nights Dream' with the Group; I've seen them do it in concert... sigh.) I've now seen Pat Metheny Group in concert 6 times, Donn Seeley University of Utah CS Dept donn@utah-cs.arpa 40 46' 6"N 111 50' 34"W (801) 581-5668 decvax!utah-cs!donn
mfs@mhuxr.UUCP (SIMON) (12/11/84)
I am afraid that the problem with Metheny is actually Lyle Mays, who is:
a. Not a very good keyboardist
b. A worse composer
c. encourages Metheny's worse tendencies, which are no play a lot
of pretty notes that dissolves into wisps of cotton candy the minute
you try to bite into them (e.g. listen hard)
Metheny's albums without Lyle Mays ("Bright Size Life", "80/81" and "Rejoicing")are uniformly interesting; i don't think he understands Ornette as much as
he thinks he does, but that's part of what makes it interesting.
On the other hand, his albums with Mays seem to seamlessly blend
one into another. Where's the beef??????????
It don't mean a thing if it aint go that swing
Marcel Simon
mhuxr!mfsstein@druny.UUCP (SteinDW) (12/11/84)
Personally, after seeing the Pat Metheny Group live three times as well as hearing many of his albums (solo as well as with his groups), I feel that Lyle Mays is a large asset to Pat Metheny's music. I quess its all in how you hear the music. That is why I have always found it crude to say someones music is bad instead of just saying that it is not the type of music YOU enjoy. For example, I do not paticularly like reggae. That certainly does not give me the right to say reggae is bad. In fact, it makes me VERY UNLIKELY to be a reliable reggae critic. Don Stein druny!stein