Music

1996 Quartet

Label: Metheny Group Productions

Musicians: Pat Metheny, Lyle Mays, Steve Rodby, Paul Wertico

“This CD is definitely a departure from the other Pat Metheny Group albums of recent. Being roughly half improvisation or near improvisation and half carefully crafted songs like we’re used to hearing from the Group, we get to see a side of the band we haven’t seen before. And the result is extremely worthwhile, even if not always immediately pleasant. The fact that it is music played solely by the four core members and recorded in a live fashion with little or no overdubs and almost exclusively on acoustic instruments lends uniqueness to this Group recording. While still a very large leap away from Pat’s Zero Tolerance for Silence, this CD contains some stretching material for casual Group listeners. I for one, however, grew musically through repeated listens, and over time found myself placing this CD right up there with my top favourites by Pat and the group. In addition to some of the “out-there” stuff (music for the mind, ie. Dismantling Utopia, Badla! nd, etc.), it contains in my opinion some of the Group’s most heartfelt and beautiful ballads (so satisfying to the soul, ie. As I Am, Oceania, etc.), and a couple of very grooving tunes bearing the label of jazz more fittingly than what we’ve been hearing from them lately (the stuff for the body, ie. When We Were Free, Montevideo, Language of Time). I would recommend this underrated CD as the most complete and satisfying musical ride I’ve ever taken part in. And if you’re like me, you’ll also grow as a result of it!” —Amazon.com