Search - Pat Metheny :: Quartet

Disappointment--Fire Without Heat

Steven Fernow | Salt Lake City, Utah | 07/04/2004

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Like many PM and PMG aficionados, I own close to everything done by either. If I were forced to pick one item in that canon whose disappearance would leave me unfazed, it would be 'Quartet,' whose anemia, apathy, and generally lackluster nature ranks right up there with discovering that there is no Santa Claus. I'm sure some abstruse critic has found some way to rationalize this outing as Pat's "deconstruction" of his own and others' prior forms and to claim that he and his group were doing something different, breaking new ground, exploring uncharted waters, but I simply could not find anything to like about this album. In fact, I recently burned a set of compilation CDs to introduce a new Metheny fan to as broad a spectrum as possible of his multifaceted nature, and try as I might, I could not find anything on 'Quartet' worth including.

I've tried several times to find something to like about this disc and I will try again as soon as I leave this keyboard, but I am not optimistic. The skill and musicianship of the players is evident, but this just never comes together.Thankfully, Pat has restored my faith in him and his group several times over with subsequent efforts, but this one is definitely one for the scrapheap."

I actually think this is really good...

Steven Fernow | 06/22/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I am somewhat surprised that this album gets a lot of negative reviews. I saw some reviews (for different Pat Metheny albums) that really "trashed" this album.It might not be the best, but I really like this album a lot. This is a PMG effort featuring familiar players (Lyle Mays, Steve Rodby, and Paul Wertico), but it sounds much more like one of his solo efforts. Could this be why I like this album so much?I tend to like his solo (non PMG) efforts better: TRIO 99->00, Question and Answer, 80/81, Bright Size Life, etc. However, I also like many of the PMG efforts as well: Offramp, First Circle, etc. Admittedly, there are some parts of this album that many PMG fans may find challenging (i.e., tracks 7 through 12). This CD is definitely nothing like First Circle, Letter From Home, Still Life talking, Offramp, Speaking of Now, We Live Here, etc. However, I seem to play this as much (if not more) than any other PMG cd that I have in my collection. I play his solo (non PMG) stuff much more of course...Anyway, track #2 (When We Were Free) is one of my favorite all-time Pat Metheny recordings.By the way, for those of you that think this is Pat Metheny's worst album ever, please listen to Song X (which quite ironically happens to be a solo effort with Ornette Coleman)."

One of Metheny's Finest

J.R. | Colorado | 10/28/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've had a love/hate relationship with Metheny's work for about twenty five years. I don't care a bit for his Trio work and his Brazilian influenced recordings are a bit too sweet for me. Having seen him in concert a half dozen times I can attest that even the stuff I don't like on CD is excellent in concert. The Group is simply that good! However, he and Lyle have done some things which I've considered to be utterly sublime: Travels, Offramp, Imaginary Day, AFWSFWF, Pat Metheny Group and Bright Size Life. I consider all these to be HIGHLY original works and would not hesitate to classify them as masterpieces. And....I put "Quartet" in this category. Yes friends, I think VERY highly of Quartet. I can understand why some would dislike, or even hate, this recording. The music is "seemingly" unstructured. The recording contains some dissonant passages here and there. All of this is true. HOWEVER, this recording should be viewed as ambient jazz at its finest! Something along the lines of Miles' "In a Silent Way"; but better. The way that the "Quartet" blends improvisation with structure is nothing short of incredible. This is one of the few Metheny CDs which I could NOT stop playing when I first bought it. I played it once, then replayed it again and again until I became fascinated by it and eventually fell in love with it. I view this recording as ONE looooooong piece. I find that "Quartet" flows more seamlessly than ANY other PMG release(with the exception of perhaps AFWSFWF). The spacing between the pieces is short enough that one cannot tell when one piece ends and another begins. I love when recordings flow like this. I would HIGHLY recommend this recording to anyone who likes Jazz; REAL JAZZ.............and.........to anyone who's a fan of ambient music, whether acoustic or electronic. "Quartet", in my opinion, is one of the VERY best recordings that PM has ever been a part of. This is one where the marketing department did not interfere with the creative process. Kudos to the Quartet for this modern masterpiece!

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