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SUBJECT:	Pat Metheny Trios 1976-2022 Back to Subjects
MarcNebo Jun 12 2022 at 1:48 PM	While I was doing my favorite Pat Metheny Record post, I realized Pat has eight Pat Metheny Trio records with six different lineups. All the records and trios are excellent and hard to select my favorite. Pat’s first record as a leader, Bright Size Life (1976) had Jaco Pastorius and Bob Moses, then there was Rejoicing with Charlie Haden and Billy Higgins, followed by Question And Answer with Dave Holland and Roy Haynes, next were two records with Larry Grenadier and Bill Stewart (Pat Metheny Trio 99>00 and Pat Metheny Trio > Live, then two records with Christian McBride and Antonio Sanchez (Day Trip and Tokyo Day Trip and finally James Francies and Marcus Gilmore (NYC Side-Eye V1.IV). Every record with all-star musicians and at the top of critics polls. I got to see four of the trios live and every show was great.
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facing west Jun 24 2022 at 10:36 AM	Trio Live is such an interesting document. The band is a monster, led by a guy who had a radio station from outer space blasting in his head since he was a kid. Now he’s grown up, he’s been practicing 18 hours a day, and he has a killer band. Question and Answer’s scale is galactic. As Marshall points out, Pat’s soloing on James is completely off the charts. Then, as Marc says, disc 2 ’goes to a different place.’ And as molesoulsandal says, you rarely even hear anyone discuss ’Faith Healer.’ It’s as if Metheny defies any conventional narrative. It’s just full-on. I still vividly remember the physical sense of seeing this band live. You just felt like you were knocked into another dimension. I actually got to shake Pat’s hand after one of the shows. I had absolutely no idea what to say.
Dudely Jun 24 2022 at 9:41 AM	Question and Answer is at the top of my list.
MarcNebo Jun 24 2022 at 12:29 AM	mole soulsandal, Those are the songs I was talking about. Good description of them, I would have said Zero Tolerance For Silence Trio.
MarcNebo Jun 23 2022 at 12:13 PM	facing west and marshall, I listened to the second disc of Trio > Live the other night. After the first two songs, James and Unity Village it went to a different place. Very good but intense, guitar wailing fast music. Great version of James, faster tempo than the original version. Excellent trio and record, another great live recording. Steve Rodby’s production made it what it was.
molesoulsandal Jun 23 2022 at 7:30 AM	imo, the most overlooked pat composition, ever, is ’faith healer’, from the trio>live record w/grenadier and stewart. 18 minutes of psychedelic glee and in one ’section’ for about 3 or 4 minutes, they become a raging freight train. i have never, ever heard anyone speak of this piece. also, the nearly 20 minute version of ’question and answer’ on that album is totally lights out. also, the 11 minute ’soul cowboy’ is killer diller, too . . . . . . but ’faith healer’ is truly from another world.
MarcNebo Jun 19 2022 at 11:34 AM	facing west & marshall: I didn’t read your posts until just now, I totally agree that Trio > Live is amazing. I played Side One the other night and it blew me away. Both Larry and Bill are such incredible and creative musicians. I remember reading that Pat especially likes the trio format. From Bright Size Life to NYC Side-Eye he has assembled some excellent trios. I am very happy that I saw Pat, Larry and Bill during that tour. I wish I would have seen the BSL trio with Jaco. Pat and Jaco with Joni Mitchell was as close as I got, but not the same. I won’t even attempt to say which trio is my favorite. Best I can do is use pick my favorite in seven year periods (1976-1982). That way they all are my favorites. Another overlooked achievement by Pat, all those incredible trios. I am going to listen to Side Two of Trio > Live today.
facing west Jun 15 2022 at 3:13 PM	I was also fortunate to see Pat, Christian & Antonio live at Yoshi’s in San Francisco in (I believe) 2008. We caught both sets one glorious Saturday night. Just astounding. For some reason, it seems to me the trio thing works best live. But I look back on all PM shows as peak experiences in my life.
marshall Jun 15 2022 at 12:36 PM	Pat’s solo on James in Pat Metheny Trio > Live is probably IMO his best solo to date. It’s so perfect it sounds completely written beforehand, but of course it wasn’t, it was just genius Pat at work.
facing west Jun 13 2022 at 9:59 AM	Great stuff, and I didn’t realize there was so much of it. Eight records is almost an entire career for some people. One track that totally knocks me out is So May It Secretly Begin from Trio Live with Larry and Bill. Possibly my favorite Metheny tune, and possibly my favorite solo. The solo seems to arise out of the tune organically and it’s almost over before you realize that it’s happening. Hard to put into words why it’s so great. Another co-production with Steve Rodby with sound so alive it jumps out of your speakers. Glad I was able to catch two dates on this tour, and that this live document exists.
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