Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Once again, the Pat Metheny Group has reinvented themselves with the addition of 3 new members. Antonio Sanchez on drums adds a whole new level of excitement with his superlative percussion work. Cuong Vu becomes the first dedicated trumpet player and his spacey Mark Isham like sound fits perfectly into the dense harmonic arrangements of their music. Finally, Richard Bona's deep and smooth vocal style rekindles the Brazilian aspects of the group which were left out in their previous CD Imaginary Day.
Speaking of Now is 71 minutes of tight, intense, uplifting, and musically complex sounds that this group has never put together before on one single recording. There is not one single track on this recording that you won't want to listen to over and over again. A few tracks deserve special mention, as they are show stoppers when they take this CD on their 2002 World Tour.
"Proof" is modern jazz at its finest, with an intense electrifying sound to it, even though both Lyle Mays (piano) and Cuong Vu (trumpet) solo on acoustic instruments. Pat Metheny's blistering dissonant electric guitar solo is one his most creative and exciting ever recorded in the studio, and you cannot help but marvel at the interplay between the guitar, bass by Steve Rodby, and drums by Antonio Sanchez. Lyle's piano solo is equally complex and demanding as he has never sounded better in the PMG's group context. His solo on this track alone exemplifies how he is one of the finest jazz pianists of our day.
"A Place in the World" is simply a stunning composition reminiscent of "The First Circle" from the 1980's when Pedro Aznar was their first featured vocalist. Again, Lyle delivers a well paced and harmonically dense solo that fits the piece like a glove. The melody of this song is so beautiful that it may reverberate in your mind for days after you first hear it.
The final track "Wherever You Go" is well placed at the end. It starts out with simple melody that leads into a long guitar solo that is built around constantly shifting chord changes and a tempo that increases in pace as the solo develops. It is another example of how Pat Metheny can craft a solo on electric guitar with a beginning, middle and end, like no other guitarist on this planet can. What makes this particular solo so memorable is how he develops is over constantly shifting chord and tempo changes. The last part of the track adds the vocals of Richard Bona and Cuong Vu to a circular melodic theme that changes pitch and key as it builds to a climax. Once again, this is another melody that you will be hearing in your mind well after the CD is finished playing.
Simply put, this is the best CD by the Pat Metheny Group to date, and contemporary music just does not get any better than this.
Play it loud, as this is not smooth jazz.
It is music that defies categorization. It is music that will lift your spirits, challenge your mind, and make this world just a little bit more enjoyable to live in.
Addendum: Response to the negative criticism of this CD.
I must admit that I am shocked by all the negative reviews of this CD, which I believe is the groups best and most sophisticated to date. Two ideas come to mind.
1. PLAY IT LOUD. When I first heard Still Life (Talking), I thought that Pat Metheny was making a recording that intentionally was meant to satirize smooth jazz. The first track, Minuano, is stunningly beautiful. And "So May it Secretly Begin" is a brilliant tribute to his idol Wes Montgomery. "Last Train Home" is overrated, and lacks anything memorable. The rest of the is nice but nothing notable.
Play that CD loud and it sounds a lot better.
Speaking of Now dwarfs Still Life in every way imaginable. It draws upon many of his world music influences, yet at its core is a solid jazz base that eclipses any previous group effort in its sophistication. In order to appreciate the complexity of this recording, it must be played loud, and the brilliant subtleties begin to shine.
2. Accessibility is not a negative. What struck me at first when hearing this CD is how accessible each tune is on first listening. They are all new melodies, yet they sound as if they have been in my psyche for years. Many of the songs created an intense emotional reaction on first, and subsequent listenings.
This CD summarizes the essence of what Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays are all about: Taking modern jazz in a new direction that constantly surprises, teases, and massages one's aural and kinesthetic senses.
Don't let the accessibility of this music fool you. It is complex, dense, lush, and beautiful in ways never before achieved by this group.
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