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Both are creative and courageous. Lyrical, melodic, rythymic, articulate, and courageous. Pat has more time under his belt and may not feel fear, but Brad is going to be a creative force and I would expect he and Pat to team up again.Pat has to be the most articulate (fingers) guitarist in the world. His fast runs are not repetative notes, they are all fingered indedendantly. What a package. Brad will get there soon.
This one, with quartet, is melancholy at times, then upbeat. This really sounds more like a Pat Metheny album than the companion disc he did with Brad Mehldau. That one was too busy, and lacked real tunes. The music really sings in the way that only Pat Metheny can make it. I highly recommend this one.
Earlier this year I picked up a copy of these two jazz giants' first collaborative effort, simply titled Metheny Mehldau (Nonesuch 79964-2). To my surprise, I found myself enjoying it much more than when I had first auditioned it. Yes, it is not quite an energetic as the Quartet CD, but in its own way, it is just as intense--perhaps more so. Lo and behold, a few months later the Quartet album hit the streets, and as I played the first cut, I found myself grinning from ear to ear as the kind of sound I had envisioned burst forth from my speakers, Metheny wailing on guitar as part of a really tight and soaring quartet sound. The set is stronger than the most recent releases by either the Pat Metheny Group or the Brad Mehldau Trio. This is what I wanted to hear from these guys. Although I enjoyed it, I was disappointed that it contained more duets than music featuring the whole quartet (Metheny playing with Mehldau's trio). Hearing the second album had somehow prepared me to enjoy the first more completely.
Where Metheny's group albums had become more and more grandiose, this album with Mehldau's trio seemed more jazz-oriented--more direct and more exuberant. Soaring melodies, driving rhythms, the kind of music that makes you just want to play the CD over and over again.After playing the Quartet album over and over again, I then went back to the first recording. Once I got past my initial reservations, I wanted to play it over and over again, too.I now treat the two CDs as though they were a two-CD set (actually, both were recorded during the same session, so they easily could have been combined into a single release) that I want to play over and over again. Highly recommended to fans of both ensembles.
I had most of Pat Metheny's musical output. I get chills even now thinking of some of his songs in my head. Great dinner music but it starts and stops there. I love the "Pat Metheny Group" CD and if you don't have it get it as it really is one of his best. I am no fan of the Jim Hall collaberation for much of the same reasons. This CD pales by comparison. I did not have this and I did not have his very first CD "Pat Metheny Group." I ordered both CD's at the same time. There is nothing evocative or memorable here.
The music is pleasant but goes nowhere. Pat Metheny in my mind is one of the few musicians whose music is evocative to me. There are a couple of songs that stand out (Towrds the Light in particulary) but much of it is infected by sameness. I'm still glad I bought it and have nearly a complete collection but don't get your expectations too high.
I have been a huge Metheny fan since the Offramp tour. But I find this CD almost unlistenable. All of the Mehldau/Metheny music sounds like "Pat Light"--you know, "Weather Channel music." I absolutely do not hear what so many others apparently hear in Mehldau's playing. More Lyle.More Lyle all the time.
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