Classic Or Dud: Pat Metheny

"Get a haircut!!"

"...or at least style it or somethin, jeez!"

Going back through some Metheny records and I definitely don't vibe with all of it, but there is so much great stuff. Generally the smaller the group, the better. His solo guitar record from this year is lovely.

Trio 99>00 (w/Bill Stewart & Grenadier) is sounding amazing. The Scofield record (I Can See Your House From Here) is a classic. Rejoicing (Charlie Haden/Billy Higgins) is really nice, good joke to open with "Lonely Woman" on a record with two Ornette Coleman alums and multiple Ornette tunes, but it's not THAT Lonely Woman, it's the Horace Silver tune.

Love it when he switches to acoustic on ballads

love the “lonely woman” on rejoicing. The bside is weird!

Whoa, it really is, out comes the guitar synth!

'Question and Answer' is another Metheny trio date to check out with Dave Holland and Roy Haynes. The title track I would put in my list of favorite tunes by PM.

Trio 99>00 (w/Bill Stewart & Grenadier) is sounding amazing.

Agreed. I remember reading that was recorded in one day after a long tour where none of that material was played. There is no guitar synthesizer on the whole record. Great (and hard to play) arrangement of "A Lot of Living To Do".

The Scofield record (I Can See Your House From Here) is a classic.

I got this one recently. If you like this one, you'll probably like "The Sound of the Summer Running" by Marc Johnson that has both Pat and Bill Frisell. Tasteful, restrained duo playing. In that same category I'd put "Beyond the Missouri Sky". The most recent one is also very nice.

There's another showcase one that's pretty good, Scofield's "Grace Under Pressure," with Frisell, Charlie Haden and Joey Baron.

I listened to a bit of Question & Answer yesterday and while the playing is great and Roy Haynes is beguiling on it, the early '90s sound was driving me a little crazy, like the tone of the flat ride cymbal and the bass (not to get all Steve Hoffman about it). I put on Like Minds (the Gary Burton record that also has Metheny, Haynes, and Holland).

Also thinking about how perfect Bill Stewart sounds on those trio records (99>00 and the live one). Like he's clearly listening to everything and reactive, but also has such a big bag of slick shit that he's worked out on his own, and everything is perfectly placed and clear. It's just very different from later period Haynes & Higgins, which is a much rawer thing with the weight of history behind it. No slight to either thing, Stewart is unique & brilliant, just different.

The first I heard Stewart was on those Maceo Parker soul jazz records. so good.

Damn the version of 'Question & Answer' on Trio Live is really worth checking out...they play the whole tune through properly once, and then the guitar synth comes out (but it's cool) and they just rip for another 10 minutes.

I love how committed he is to that one guitar synth patch, it seems so antithetical to the idea of synths, but dammit he's going to play the fuck out of that patch

Haha. Ok I think Trio>Live is now officially my favorite Metheny album.

It's great that Metheny likes to switch things up and also keeps hiring young musicians (his current drummer is Joe Dyson, a great New Orleans drummer who I saw with Donald Harrison when he was probably 15). But it's also insane that he's never reunited this trio in the last 20+ years (?).

This random facebook page has a full concert: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=506269073217146

Fucking Bill Stewart.

Check out Bill (and everyone!) killing it on this Mingus cover:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LvXPjUcIcQ

Full band, btw:
Maceo Parker – alto saxophone, piano, organ
Fred Wesley – trombone
Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis – tenor saxophone
Don Pullen – organ
Rodney Jones – guitar
Bill Stewart – drums
Bootsy Collins – bass guitar, guitar

I think those Maceo albums were also the first time I heard Bill Stewart, love that he was in that band. It's great to hear him play pocket and just keep it there, but still be able to hear the little Bill Stewart details.

The one time I saw him live was with John Scofield. I assume he's well-regarded, but I never hear anyone (outside of drummers) talk about him. Then again, not sure who outside of drummers would talk about him, lol.

Damn, I've never seen him. His trio with Larry Goldings and Peter Bernstein was playing in Milwaukee a few years ago and I didn't make the trip. I think any modern jazz musician would talk about him pretty reverently, same as Brian Blade or anyone from that generation, I think they're living legends at this point.

Some fun breakdowns here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gA6XaUiX68

My recent Rock Nacional studies led me to wonder about Pedro Aznar’s time with Pat but I haven’t really grokked it yet.

I did see the Bill Stewart Larry Goldings Peter Bernstein trio somewhat recently in the beforetimes at the Jazz Standard and it was as good as advertised.

I love how committed he is to that one guitar synth patch, it seems so antithetical to the idea of synths, but dammit he's going to play the fuck out of that patch

Lol, good to know.

There some great sets by John Scofield's (w/Bill Stewart) and Bill Frisell's current trios here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30f1xTrVqXU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEfgRFzbgjU

Who is that Frisell drummer?

Rudy Royston

This is another good Bill Stewart on drums set with Scofield and Steve Swallow filmed for European TV in NYC. It is pretty much like having a chair right at the front of the stage. Really cool to see these people play that close up and it sounds excellent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIMkmbxwpco

Vimeo has an on-demand John Scofield documentary. Included are several bonus features, including one with Pat Metheny (11 min).

this is good:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIILHmcVc2Y

ridiculous i been sleepin on pat metheny all this time

— Flea (@flea333) April 1, 2024

RHCP are good again

Kinda hard to believe a bit considering PMs first record is one of the primary Jaco albums. Id figure he would know that one.

this bright size life album is fucking rad

— Flea (@flea333) April 1, 2024

April Fools?

North Sea Jazz Archive posted a 75min video of Pat Metheny Trio on YouTube from 1999, including three Ornette Coleman songs.

thanks! can't get enough stewart (and pat of course:)

Need info on his “minimalist” period in the 70s
Is this a thing? My kid’s music teacher mentioned it

Maybe because he was on ECM it's sort of associated with that but not really. Perhaps an album like Watercolors?

Electric counterpoint

ooh that was the 80s tho

Oh wow, I was unaware of this album.

New Chautauqua maybe. It's has a style that is similar to modern solo guitar players. Like this is kind of minimal:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSXPkMWxuns

Love New Chautauqua