The current Pat Metheny Group, which includes keyboard wizard Lyle Mays and the rhythm section of Steve Rodby and Paul Wertico, is a family of artists that has spent more than a decade developing and exploring its own musical terrain. On QUARTET, Metheny fans will find many familiar tonal colors and aural landscapes, but a new geography of ethnic influences brings a different, more stark background to the free improvisations, especially in the middle section of the disc. While much of this band's previous material has taken its inspiration from the horizontal, spacious phrasing and harmonies of Brazilian music, other sources appear here, as on "Badland," which has an Arabic tonality and a darkness that is new (and welcome) to the Metheny canon.
While many of the songs begin with a free improv section, they confound expectations of something mysterious by settling fairly quickly into "tunes." But whichever you prefer--compositions or improvisations--if you're looking for reflective, mature music played by a top notch "family" of musicians, check out QUARTET. It took years to grow the music that is played so spontaneously and intelligently on this CD.
Recorded at Right Track Studio, New York, New York in May 1996. Includes liner notes by Pat Metheny.
Pat Metheny Group: Pat Metheny (acoustic, electric & 12-string guitars, 42-string pikasso guitar, e-bow, slide, soprano & fretless guitars, synthesizer); Lyle Mays (piano, spinet piano, celeste, pedal harmonium, autoharp, electric piano, Clavinet); Steve Rodby (acoustic bass, piccolo bass); Paul Wertico (drums, percussion).
Pat Metheny: Lyle Mays , Pat Metheny, Paul Wertico, Steve Rodby.Q (2/97, p.103) - 4 Stars (out of 5) - "...an immaculate session--even the patches of free improvisation somehow manage to sound tidy. Outstanding is the ballad 'Seven Days'...and the brilliant, sinister, subverted bossa of 'Dismantling Utopia.'"
Down Beat (2/97, p.42) - 3.5 Stars (out of 5) - "...a balance between open-ended ruminations and actual songs..."
JazzTimes (3/97, p.89) - "...The whole feeling is that of a relaxed, vibe-intensive collaboration of equals of one mind and soul....Advice: never, never sleep on Pat Metheny."
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