Search - Pat Metheny Group :: Speaking of Now

Pat Metheny Group:Modern Jazz Giant

Travis Wade Evans | Atlanta, GA | 02/12/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Pat Metheny Group have really challenged themselves musically since its inception 25 years ago. The results have been very delightful and impressive and of course their multiple grammy's are well deserved. Pat Metheny Group has found a very significant spot in modern jazz. I have listened to their latest recording "Speaking of Now" from Warner Bros. It is a magnificent documentation of how expansive music and jazz in particular can be. The album most closely resembles some of their earlier recordings including "First Circle", however the Group has gone places musically where they have never gone before with the addition of three new band members. We hear traces of African music, Jazz, Blues, and Pop music on this album.1. As It Is 7:40
This piece starts off beautifully with a "Beatles like" beat. Pat plays guitar synthesizer about 3 minutes and 20 seconds into the recording and his playing is complimented by Antonios wonderful rythmic patterns and Steve's supportive bass line. A great tune.2. Proof 10:13
This one is fast paced and shows off Antonios' unique drumming skills. It is one piece that has a straight ahead jazz feel to it where Pat and Lyle provide killer solos. Cuong Vu plays trumpet flawlessly.3. Another Life 7:08
This tune starts off with a beautiful vocal segment from Richard and Coung and is proceeded with Pat playing acoustic guitar. It falls back into the vocal segment, then Pat picks up again on acoustic guitar. A very beautiful piece.4. The Gathering Sky 9:22
This piece starts off with an African pop flavored beat it continues into an optimistic and highly melodic piece, eventually picking up speed. As the piece gets closer to the end Lyle gets on the synthesizer and does his thing with exotic percussion in the background. 5. You 8:24
Here is where Richard Bona sings similarly to Pedro Aznar in First circle or Nana Vasconcelos in Travels. Excellent composition from Pat. Very soft, very romantic.6. On Her Way 6:04
This one has a very uplifting feel to it. This one is cool. Lots of guitar soloing from Pat, complimenting the voice section. 7. A Place In The World 9:52
Modern jazz at its best. Cuong provides really beautiful trumpet solo. Lyle provides a pleasant piano solo performance. Pat gets to strum his guitar here.8. Afternoon 4:43
This is one of my favorite pieces on the album. Richard is the lead singer here too, suggesting that he has picked up where Pedro left off. Antonio displays very impressive drumming.
"Afternoon" represents the best in pop music.9. Wherever You Go 8:04
A very melodic piece. This is definitly the best way to end the album.This is Pat Metheny Group's most revealing effort to date. I highly recommend "Speaking of Now"."

Stunningly beautiful & uplifting sounds for a post 911 world

William Merrill | San Antonio, TX United States | 02/12/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The praiseworthy aspects of this new PMG disc are so numerous, but let me mention just a few. First and most important, the songs all have an open, soaring and joyful quality that says the human spirit can endure and even triumph over sorrow - certainly a most relevant message for today. Longtime fans of Pat and the PMG know that the Metheny-Mays songwriting partnership has yielded many such uplifting compositions, but Speaking Of Now is positively chock-full of them.Second, there are the wonderful performances by each member of the group. The new CD gives each musician several chances to step forward into the spotlight, but of course the synergy from the different players working together is what produces the greatest moments of transcendence. The 3 newest members add unique flavors to the group's sound, especially trumpeter Cuong Vu, a Vietnamese American now living in NYC. Drummer Antonio Sanchez (from Mexico) and vocalist/percussionist Richard Bona (Cameroon) also provide very valuable contributions.A third element I really dig about the CD is the diversity of the material. Things like Pat's liquid guitar lines and Lyle Mays' resonant piano chords are very familiar, but those elements are now offered in new and varied settings like the dreamy folk-pop of "You" or a busy urban collage ("Proof"). Wordless vocals have long been a characteristic of PMG albums going all the way back to Nana Vasconcelos' tenure, but Mr. Bona's singing gives the songs more of an earthly context that contrasts nicely with all the lightness of Pat and Lyle's often airy textures. Sometimes it almost sounds like he is singing a lyric, but when I listen closely I can't make out any actual words.Just 2 other notes:
.... .... ...."

71 Minutes of Brilliant Contemporary Music

Kynan Kourday | San Francisco, CA United States | 02/23/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Once again, the Pat Metheny Group has reinvented themselves with the addition of 3 new members. Antonio Sanchez on drums adds a whole new level of excitement with his superlative percussion work. Cuong Vu becomes the first dedicated trumpet player and his spacey Mark Isham like sound fits perfectly into the dense harmonic arrangements of their music. Finally, Richard Bona's deep and smooth vocal style rekindles the Brazilian aspects of the group which were left out in their previous CD Imaginary Day. Speaking of Now is 71 minutes of tight, intense, uplifting, and musically complex sounds that this group has never put together before on one single recording. There is not one single track on this recording that you won't want to listen to over and over again. A few tracks deserve special mention, as they are show stoppers when they take this CD on their 2002 World Tour. "Proof" is modern jazz at its finest, with an intense electrifying sound to it, even though both Lyle Mays (piano) and Cuong Vu (trumpet) solo on acoustic instruments. Pat Metheny's blistering dissonant electric guitar solo is one his most creative and exciting ever recorded in the studio, and you cannot help but marvel at the interplay between the guitar, bass by Steve Rodby, and drums by Antonio Sanchez. Lyle's piano solo is equally complex and demanding as he has never sounded better in the PMG's group context. His solo on this track alone exemplifies how he is one of the finest jazz pianists of our day."A Place in the World" is simply a stunning composition reminiscent of "The First Circle" from the 1980's when Pedro Aznar was their first featured vocalist. Again, Lyle delivers a well paced and harmonically dense solo that fits the piece like a glove. The melody of this song is so beautiful that it may reverberate in your mind for days after you first hear it.The final track "Wherever You Go" is well placed at the end. It starts out with simple melody that leads into a long guitar solo that is built around constantly shifting chord changes and a tempo that increases in pace as the solo develops. It is another example of how Pat Metheny can craft a solo on electric guitar with a beginning, middle and end, like no other guitarist on this planet can. What makes this particular solo so memorable is how he develops is over constantly shifting chord and tempo changes. The last part of the track adds the vocals of Richard Bona and Cuong Vu to a circular melodic theme that changes pitch and key as it builds to a climax. Once again, this is another melody that you will be hearing in your mind well after the CD is finished playing.Simply put, this is the best CD by the Pat Metheny Group to date, and contemporary music just does not get any better than this.
Play it loud, as this is not smooth jazz.
It is music that defies categorization. It is music that will lift your spirits, challenge your mind, and make this world just a little bit more enjoyable to live in.Addendum: Response to the negative criticism of this CD.
I must admit that I am shocked by all the negative reviews of this CD, which I believe is the groups best and most sophisticated to date. Two ideas come to mind.1. PLAY IT LOUD. When I first heard Still Life (Talking), I thought that Pat Metheny was making a recording that intentionally was meant to satirize smooth jazz. The first track, Minuano, is stunningly beautiful. And "So May it Secretly Begin" is a brilliant tribute to his idol Wes Montgomery. "Last Train Home" is overrated, and lacks anything memorable. The rest of the is nice but nothing notable.
Play that CD loud and it sounds a lot better.
Speaking of Now dwarfs Still Life in every way imaginable. It draws upon many of his world music influences, yet at its core is a solid jazz base that eclipses any previous group effort in its sophistication. In order to appreciate the complexity of this recording, it must be played loud, and the brilliant subtleties begin to shine.2. Accessibility is not a negative. What struck me at first when hearing this CD is how accessible each tune is on first listening. They are all new melodies, yet they sound as if they have been in my psyche for years. Many of the songs created an intense emotional reaction on first, and subsequent listenings.
This CD summarizes the essence of what Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays are all about: Taking modern jazz in a new direction that constantly surprises, teases, and massages one's aural and kinesthetic senses.
Don't let the accessibility of this music fool you. It is complex, dense, lush, and beautiful in ways never before achieved by this group."