Pat Metheny--From This Place

[Doctor Jeff]

Listening to this quite a bit lately--very well-done and enjoyable, seems appropriate to the times.

Pat is not as "in front" with his solos as he usually is, but the compositions are more complex and rewarding. I really appreciate his approach to orchestration--reminiscent of As Falls Wichita (also thematically and structurally), and some of his 80's albums with orchestration.

The accompanying musicians are wonderful. The band is drummer Antonio Sanchez, bassist Linda May Han Oh, and pianist Gwilim Simcock. The rhythm is complex and well-done, as always, though the bass is not as prominent as in early recordings. Simcock sure does a good impression of Lyle Mays, though--spot on to my ears.

This one will require repeated listenings.

Anyway, curious to hear what your thoughts are.

[Rob MacKillop]

I've never really got into Pat Metheny, though always appreciated what a great player he is. But this album is superb all the way through, with the emphasis on composition and arrangement, rather than blowing. The band is superb, as is the orchestration. I really like it.

[Cunamara]

For as instantly identifiable as Pat Metheny is, I find that I resonate more with the context he is playing rather than with him. The first few Pat Metheny Group albums ("Pat Metheny Group," "American Garage," up to "Offramp") I really like, but "Bright Size Life" I don't (it's all a bit too breathless for me, I think). The PMG albums after "Offramp" tend to range from "hmm, that doesn't grab me" to "please, make it stop." But then I really like a lot of his trio records and non-PMG work. Through it all he sounds exactly like Pat Metheny, though, so I think it's the context his playing is framed by that makes me like it or not. It's kind of weird.

I'll have to give this a listen, I have only heard fragments.

[Djang]

Metheny, there’s a lot to love and a lot to dislike, I dig what some people have to say about him.

some of his melodies are so extremely wonderful (Travels, So may it secretly begin, Finding and Believing, Spring ain’t here...) but a lot of times he just bores me or even annoys me.

From a jazz point of view he is certainly an extraordinarily gifted player with a broad sense of harmony, right there with Herbie, McCoy, Brecker.

but this new disc is quite nice.

[pcsanwald]

the new album is, for me, some of Pat's finest work. It feels like he's at the top of his compositional game.

I say that being a big fan of pretty much everything Pat does: all the incredible trio stuff, PMG, Secret Story kinda stuff, all of it. It's hard to equal the Pedro Aznar era of PMG, but this band certainly has its own thing.

[Jonah]

I do not know...

fantastic skills and level of realization...

but it all sounds too soppy to me...
sometime feel it with Pat, Garbarek, some other musicians..

I admire the performance, interaction, arrangement (and editing!) level and subtlety but the music itself - how it works and all - is just pop in disguise...

[Doctor Jeff]

I do not know...

fantastic skills and level of realization...

but it all sounds too soppy to me...
sometime feel it with Pat, Garbarek, some other musicians..

I admire the performance, interaction, arrangement (and editing!) level and subtlety but the music itself - how it works and all - is just pop in disguise...

I don't think this new album is poppy at all, in fact the opposite. Some people will like Pat's more "pop-oriented" work like Bright Size Life. Actually the latter is probably what I would put on in the car--anything he did between 1970's and 1990's.

I continue to be impressed at how broad his reach is. He reminds me of Herbie Hancock as he becomes an "elder statesman" of jazz--well-known for playing in a certain genre, but able to step outside of that and do really anything he wants to do.

Plus I am a big fan of lush, well-done orchestrations.

[docsteve]

I only gave it a listen in the car, but I thought it was kind of the same as his last PMG / Unity Band offerings, only with strings. I wasn’t persuaded to give it another listen.


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[Jonah]

I don't think this new album is poppy at all, in fact the opposite. Some people will like Pat's more "pop-oriented" work like Bright Size Life. Actually the latter is probably what I would put on in the car--anything he did between 1970's and 1990's.

I continue to be impressed at how broad his reach is. He reminds me of Herbie Hancock as he becomes an "elder statesman" of jazz--well-known for playing in a certain genre, but able to step outside of that and do really anything he wants to do.

Plus I am a big fan of lush, well-done orchestrations.

For me pop is not quite particular genre but rather a manipulating with relatively simplistic tools to achieve affect (mostly very sentimental)... it is ok when it is straightforward, I like good pop stuff... but it when pretends to be serious music .. that is why I said 'pop i disgiuse'...

Nevermind, it is just my thing... the album is nice to listen to.. I just do not find it exceptional.