Pat Metheny Trio 99-00 CD

Pat Metheny Trio: Pat Metheny (guitar); Larry Grenadier (acoustic bass); Bill Stewart (drums).
Recorded at Right Track Recording, New York, New York in August 1999.
"(Go) Get It" won the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Solo.
Personnel: Pat Metheny (baritone guitar); Bill Stewart (snare drum).
Recording information: Right Tracks Recording, New York, NY (1999).
Mixing up his pitches just to keep his fans off balance as always, Metheny returns to the strict jazz-guitar trio format for the first time in a decade, in league with a couple of combative, unintimidated partners. At the age of 45, Metheny leaves no doubt that he has become a masterful jazz player, thoroughly at home with even the most convoluted bebop licks ("What Do You Want?") yet still as open as ever to ideas outside the narrow mainstream, as illustrated in the country-western-tinged phrasing on "The Sun in Montreal." Bassist Larry Grenadier propels his own voice prominently into the texture, even when walking the fours, and drummer Bill Stewart does not hesitate to go against the grain of Metheny's ideas. There is a slow, almost bossa nova-like take on "Giant Steps" that works unexpectedly well; it actually becomes a lyrical, gliding thing. Bye Bye Birdie's "Got a Lot of Livin' to Do" gets a rare contemporary cover, and why not? it's a good tune that holds up, even when fractured as creatively as it is here. There are also a few songs on acoustic guitar that sound like embryonic soundtrack material: "Just Like the Day," "We Had a Sister," and "Travels," the latter being Metheny's first studio recording of a tune that was recorded live 17 years before. Metheny's brigade of jazz buffs will savor this. ~ Richard S. Ginell
For this set, Pat Metheny once again took time out of his busy schedule as a contemporary jazz superstar to take a straight-ahead trio into the studio for a day of casual blowing. Like his other previous efforts in this vein, QUESTION AND ANSWER and REJOICING, Metheny gets back to what he does best and lets it all hang out with partners Larry Grenadier and Bill Stewart. What's most impressive is that there was never any intent to make a record; it was merely a set-up-and-play atmosphere when these three virtuosos grabbed a couple of days to enjoy the act of making great music together.
From the outset it is obvious that Metheny came to play his best as he sets the music ablaze with the opening burner "(Go) Get It." Stewart and Grenadier are the perfect match for Metheny's legendary musicianship as the trio covers a wide range of stylistic extremes, from the acoustic nebula of "Just Like The Day" to Wayne Shorter's harmonically offbeat "Capricorn." Metheny even covers himself with a fiery reading of his previously recorded gem "Lone Jack" and the unforgettably melodic "Travels." Of special note is the trio's slow and groovy take on the Coltrane classic "Giant Steps."Entertainment Weekly (2/11/00, p.75) - "...his guitar-diety status remains intact...Metheny indulges in straight...jazz mode, and the airwaves are better for it...clever as it is musical." - Rating: B+
CMJ (2/28/00, p.33) - "...Metheny creates a mesmerizing, straight-ahead album that spotlights every component of Methany's familiar guitar style..."
Down Beat (8/00, pp.69-70) - 3.5 stars out of 5 - "...Wide open form interpretation and improv....The air is fresh here, and Metheny and his significantly younger bandmates give themselves plenty of breathing room..."
JazzTimes (5/00, p.118) - "...A master of melodic improv, Metheny spews endless streams of ideas at all tempos...flowing over the bar line with that perfect yin-yang of total command and complete abandon....A stellar trio date...one remarkable guitarist."