Pat Metheny Trio – Day Trip – Nonesuch

by | Mar 13, 2008 | Jazz CD Reviews | 0 comments

Pat Metheny Trio – Day Trip – Nonesuch 376828-2, 60:06 ****:

(Pat Metheny, guitars; Christian McBride, bass; Antonio Sanchez, drums)

Here’s the latest from one of most creative guitarists in modern jazz today.  The smaller trio aggregation is not his usual quintet with pianist Lyle Mays – with whom he’s done 15 albums now, and frankly I missed Mays.  Had to get into a different sort of mind-set for this more specific, less flamboyant outing.  It’s quite a contrast from his The Way Up of a couple years ago – that was a mighty trippy over-an-hour nonstop quintet collaboration and later an astonishing Blu-ray music video too.

All ten selections are Metheny originals; I’d venture that his Ornette Coleman and Wes Montgomery influences are stronger here than his Brazilian music and pop world influences. On some of the tracks Metheny has a very classical-sounding guitar timbre. This is especially true of Is This America? – a musical cry of pain subtitled (Katrina 2005).  A lovely bowed bass solo from McBride in the midst of this track. Other tracks feature Metheny’s Roland guitar synthesizer; on Red One it dials in a high-pitched almost flute-like sound that doesn’t seem to originate from a guitar.  The title tune is the closing track and the extended work is the longest track on the album. Paintings of colorful American street scenes from painter Josh George decorate the album and note booklet.

TrackList: Son of Thirteen, At Last You’re Here, Let’s Move, Snova, Calvin’s Keys, Is This America? When We Were Free, Dreaming Trees, The Red One, Day Trip.

 – John Henry

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