Customer Reviews

Day Trip

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The late jazz writer Richard Cook described Pat Metheny's enormous audience as a mixture of "progressive-rock listeners, fusion fans, and plain old lovers of guitar heroes". In other words, he manages to cover quite a few stylistic bases, but here's an album that will appeal most to the hard-core jazz listeners among Metheny's many fans.
'Metheny hooks up with his regular partners, Christian McBride on double bass and Antonio Sanchez on drums. As you'd expect for musicians who have played hundreds of dates together they're very comfortable in each other's company, with McBride's marvellously deep, rich bass really shining throughout'(BBC).
'In its early stages, "Day Trip" seems to fall into some familiar postbop traps (too much technique, overwrought themes) but it soon settles into some jubilant improvising from all three, on the kind of bluesy grooves, Latin swingers and inviting ballads that suggest Wes Montgomery has returned to life and found the hippest 21st-century world-music partners he could' (Guardian).
He dazzles on 10 new originals.
"Let's Move" is fast and boppish, "At Last You're Here" is a fine ballad, bound to become a classic - as might his bluesy "Calvin's Keys" and a bittersweet acoustic lament for flood-battered New Orleans, "Is This America?"
For technique, taste and originality, Pat's still the man.
He is alternately pastorally lyrical and hard-swinging, reminding us of his origins in the music of Wes Montgomery and Jim Hall respectively.
Apart from the unmemorable nature of some of the compositions, this is delightful stuff.
The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery
Hallmarks: The Best of Jim Hall

I'm going to have to say I was disappointed with this album for a number of different reasons. I'll start by saying that it is not by any stretch a bad album, per-se. Metheny does have some serious chops and his new trio-mates, Christian McBride and Antonio Sanchez, are both excellent musicians that I have liked for a while in their own rights. Those concessions aside I have to say that I feel like Metheny is stuck in a rut musically speaking. I think its such a shame that Metheny sounds just like last time here. Not that Metheny sounded bad the last time around, just that I was hoping for something different or new to come with the new trio. If there is any exploration here it is tepid at best. At first when I began listening to this album, it struck me as pretty good standard Metheny affair. I found I could not stomach an entire albums worth of it though and began to zone out during Metheny's solo's. The album became for me a vehicle of the two other trio members who are both in fine form here. Still, however, a disappointment.

Guitarist Pat Metheny gets together with what he calls "two of the best people on earth"; drummer Antonio Sanchez and bassist Christian McBride - all three of them geniuses in their respective fields, if you ask me - for this beautiful set of 10 songs lasting just over one hour. I often find myself searching for words when reviewing any Pat Metheny project. What's there to say anyway, apart from, it's stunningly beautiful and just as good as (if not better than) I expected it to be? It is very true though, that no new musical ground is broken on this disc - hence the "more of the same" comment by a previous reviewer; a comment I tend to agree with - but that doesn't bother me much. I don't think I could ever get bored of music by Pat Metheny and the album loses no stars from me as a result.

Metheny plays electric guitar for the most, only choosing acoustic guitar on the thinly veiled political lament "Is This America? (katrina 2005)", on which McBride takes a bow to his bass, and then again on "Dreaming Trees". He also plays his trademark guitar synth on "When We Were Free", a cover of a song that originally appeared on the Pat Metheny Group 1996 album Quartet and again on "The Red One", another one I've heard before on I Can See Your House from Here, the 1994 album Pat made with John Scofield. Sanchez and McBride make sure the covers work, in that they both actually add something new to the originals, which were pretty awesome to begin with. Kudos to them.

The guitar/bass/drums trio format has always been my favourite of them all and this particular trio has not let me down. Pick this up if you're a Metheny fan or just interested in sampling some good jazz guitar. It's worth every penny.

One question though, Pat: When's the next PMG album due? It's been three years already!

Pat does it again. This is Awesome work here. Great jazz indeed. I was fortunate to catch the live concert last October and all I can say is WoW!
I sure hope they release the live version on DVD so I can relive that night. The song "When we were friends" is worth the price of the CD alone.
That song is so sweet, it almost brought me to tears. Tears of joy that is.
I'm glad I preordered my CD so I was able to download the music today. Hope I'm one of the 50 lucky ones that get Pat's autograph.
Pat keep up the good work bro. I can't wait to see you again.

~your biggest fan~

I have listened to this over and over, I can't get enough. One of Metheny's most mature and enjoyable releases. What a pleasure to hear these three great musicians together. Pop this CD into your car stereo and I guarantee you won't be so aggressive behind the wheel. Enjoy.

I am a long time lover of Pat Metheny's music & who ever he collaborates with is totally unique, imaginative, creative, and very beautiful. This CD is right on time and at the top with all of the others. It is hard to pick one favorite as Metheny reinvents himself each time he plays. I love this CD and his concert this past February 2008 @ Napa Opera House was right on . Best regards, Lori D.

Great playing by the leader, as well as bassist Christian McBride and drummer Antonio Sanchez. Very nice new compositions, as well arrangements of previously recorded Metheny tunes (the red one, when we were free, snova, son of thirteen). Similar in nature to previous trio recordings by Pat. Nothing really new here, just good music played with excellently by 3 musicians in complete rapport.

What hits you square between the eyes on this disc is the warmth of Pat's guitar tone, his amazing telepathy & synergy with the rhythm section &, finally Sanchez' utter "completeness" as a percussionist (sorry, but this guy ain't just a "drummer", he's the complete rhythm colourist). As for the tunes themselves, they are generally down-tempo (which makes the many intra-tune mood & rhythm changes even MORE glorious) & although not instantly "memorable" I can almost guarantee most will seep into your psyche after a few listens. A brief track by track overview:-
Son of Thirteen: a decent opener, albeit without a memorable "hook" & perhaps a little too much of Pat's trademark "runs" before he virtually stops on a dime to comp behind a shimmering Sanchez "solo" which is well worth the wait & definitely "steals" the tune!
At last you're here: Excellent piece worthy of repeated listens; Pat shows off a number of tricks in the jazz guitarist's armoury here (including a fantastic progression from single notes to chords which gave me goosebumps on the first listen!) plus a stunning solo from McBride with Sanchez again brilliant.
Let's move: as the title implies, probably the most "straight-ahead" tune & perhaps my least favourite for that; rhythmically & technically excellent solo from McBride.
Snova: an underlying bossa nova beat (as the title suggests) & if you close your eyes you can almost imagine the warmth of Pat's guitar tone carrying you with him across the dance floor before the bassman tries to cut in! Incredibly evocative & romantic.
Calvin's Keys: great groove, reminiscent of early swing bands at first but then, by turns, funky, light-hearted & playful. I reckon they must have had great fun with this tune on tour. Listen to Sanchez' subtle & almost ever-constant rhythm changes underneath. Easily one of my favourites here.
Is this America? (katrina 2005): Stunning & heart-rendering acoustic piece with a gorgeous bowed bass solo by McBride. Totally compelling listening & even though I'm not even American, still brings a tear to my eye after several listens. (Enough said).
When we were free: I'm a harsh critic of artists re-interpreting their own material on studio discs; this is undoubtedly a great tune (& I must say seems to flow-on quite naturally from "katrina") but the original (on PMG's "Quartet") was perfectly fine & although this version is thoroughly enjoyable, I don't think it fully justifies the exclusion of a "new" piece (although Sanchez does his very best to try & sway my opinion towards the end!)
Dreaming Trees: only problem with this acoustic track is that whereas "Is this America?" is 10 out of 10, this is only 9.5!. Another great solo from McBride.
The Red One: Same opening comment as for "When we were free" except here I guess Pat's doing all the guitar work himself without Sco beside him. The middle section here is significantly altered from the original (quite a reggae feel actually) & this, plus the fact that it adds a nice contrast to the other material on this disc I makes it worthy of inclusion (just!).
Day Trip: fine but kind of sterile (dare I say "formulaic") when compared to what's gone before.
In conlusion, despite my nit-picking on individual tunes here is a master at the top of his form, accompanied by a simply outstanding rhythm section (with apologies to Bill S & Larry G). Quite possibly this is the best guitar trio disc ever, not to be missed & easily 5 stars!!

Guitarist Metheny and bassist McBride are the well-known members of this trio, but it is drummer Sanchez who makes the most indelible impression with his incredibly energetic and flavorful playing. What a dynamo! Although Metheny's past couple of recordings with the Pat Metheny Group have tended toward the grandiose, this trio setting strips the arrangements down to a more pure jazz style that gives all three musicians an opportunity to shine. The end result is a pure feast for the ears, the best thing that Metheny has done in several years.

I'm not going to review this one track-by-track, because it is simply pristine jazz trio music, and that's all you really need to know.

The stand-out track for me was the 9-minute "When We Were Free," which succeeds largely on the Tony Williams-style drumming of Antonio Sanchez. If there is a lesson to be learned from Miles' "Second Great Quintet" or the Impulse years of John Coltrane, it is that the drummer is NOT simply there to "keep time." As much as I enjoy the entire CD, I'd like to see more of the toughness of "When We Were Free" spread over the course of an entire album. It's a throwback to Pat's glory days of "Travels" and particularly stand-out tracks like "Are You Going With Me?," with less of the "New Age" overtones that were popular at the time and more of the aforementioned Miles / Trane attitude improvisation.

It's wonderful to know that in the current day, Pat Metheny is stil fired up and filled with creativity. This album...as well as its companion piece, the live EP "Tokyo Day Trip"...should be in the library of every enthusiast of this genre.