Search - Pat Metheny, Brad Mehldau :: Metheny / Mehldau

As much as I like this disc . . .

Jan P. Dennis | Monument, CO USA | 09/14/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

". . . and I must say, I like it a WHOLE LOT, what really blows me away are the two quartet numbers which add Larry Grenadier (bass) and Jeff Ballard (drums), maybe the smartest rhythm team on the planet (unless it's Ben Allison and Ballard). Is this the new PMG group for the new century, or what? These four guys mesh magically, even more so than the group on which I first encountered PMG, their great disc Off Ramp.



For one thing, they're all peers in a way that, great as they are, Lyle Mays, and whoever's on bass and drums will never be Metheny's peers. In the liner notes to this disc, Mehldau tells about how at 17 he first heard Metheny, and it forever changed him. Well, the acolyte is now the equal: If anything, Mehldau has surpassed his idol.



For me, Jeff Ballard defines smart, 21st century drumming. Whatever session he's on, he lifts it to the next level, be it his longtime Medicine Wheel gig, his work on the Elastic Band, his duo with Frank Kimbrough, The Willow, or his trio gig with Grenadier and Mark Turner, Fly.



Larry Grenadier, of course, has played with both Metheny and Mehldau before, but never in the same group. And he and Ballard were part of Mehldau's Day Is Done trio. So these guys need no introduction. That they nearly telepathically interact should come as no surprise. What IS a surprise, however, is how entirely natural they sound together, as if they'd all been playing as a unit for a couple decades.



But, that said, this disc is primarily a duo outing. How does it succeed on that level? Quite magnificently, thank you. Mehldau and Metheny seem to have their own kind of telepathy, perhaps even more magical, in its own way, than the quartet. For one thing, it strikes me that it's much more difficult to create enough harmonic and especially rhythmic dynamism in a guitar-piano duo than it is in a guitar-piano-bass-drums quartet. That Mehldau/Metheny consistently find the key to creative interaction says a lot about their individual genius, somehow conjoined spectacularly in this mainly duo setting.



If the duo selections impress more by their technical mastery than by their sheer delightful musicality, that is only to expected; this setting, almost by its very nature, if it works at all, yields a kind of luxuriant albeit happy synchronicity rather than ravishing melodicism, rhythmic complexity, and harmonic expansiveness (although, it must be admitted, the more I listen to the duo tracks the more they give up unexpected treasures).



So this disc, for me, at least, is a kind of unexpected treasure-trove: a ridiculously rewarding piano/guitar excursion casually trumped by the quartet tracks.



But how about it, Pat? Can't our hopes for his greatest PMG ever be realized on at least one disc featuring Metheny, Mehldau, Grenadier, and Ballard? Now THERE'S a group for the ages."

Good in theory, end result puzzling

CharlieGreene | Satelite Mexico | 01/17/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"When I first heard that Pat and Brad were making an album together it was like WOW, I can't wait. I guess my expectations were way too high, (given the incredible tallent of both). So when I first listened to it, it was strange, I felt something missing. Then I heard it again, and again. It started to warm, but never caught fire.

So I had to break it apart. On Mehldau side, very good. On Metheny side, very good but as stand alone, it missses in retrospect (comparing this project to other collaborations, like say the Jim Hall album, Question and Answer and Rejoicing).

But in no way is this an inferior album, the playing and writting is superb.

I would recommend it, but Pat and Brad have better."

Good stuff

Baz | Manchester, England | 02/16/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I wonder if the folks who give this album less than five stars are listening to the same ablum as I have for the past week commuting to work and back... Obviously not. I've lost count of the number of times I've listened to this and there's still plenty to discover and get the juices flowing. One thing seems clear; both guys bring their own superb musicianship and individuality to the album and the whole is without doubt greater than the sum of the parts - and minus any gratuitous noodling or empty virtuosity (perish the thought). Just great jazz from two of the best. One of my albums for the desert island. Very highly recommended. More, please..."