One Quiet Night

Pat Metheny, Pat Metheny & Lyle Mays | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 27, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Warner Bros / Wea
• ASIN: B00008YUEI
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (75 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #53,777 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

After having played in either trios or mid-sized group in recent years, Metheny goes the solo acoustic route on One Quiet Night. As the title implies, Metheny is in a contemplative mood, as he records a mix covers and old and new originals in his home studio. Playing his baritone guitar in a low country music tuning, Methany explores tonal shading throughout 12 relatively short tunes that are more impressionistic meditations than songs build around traditional jazz arrangements. The Norah Jones hit "Don’t Know Why" is born anew, but the new original pieces point in a particularly fresh new vein for the great guitarist. --Tad Hendrickson

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Always A Delight, May 30, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: One Quiet Night (Audio CD)

Pat Metheny has challenged the musical boundaries of his audience for over 25 years and his latest recording is no exception. One Quiet Night features Metheny performing alone, on a custom-made baritone guitar with a non-traditional folk tuning that accentuates the instrument's rich sound and warm resonant bass register. Recorded by Metheny in his New York City home, half of the material on the CD was captured on a single night in November 2001. In January 2003, he recorded the other half including two new original compositions, a reinterpretation of the popular Pat Metheny Group song "Last Train Home", and an eclectic group of covers: "Don't Know Why" from the 2002 Grammy award winning album by Norah Jones; "My Song" from jazz pianist Keith Jarrett; and the 1960s pop hit "Ferry Cross The Mersey" from the 'British invasion' band, Gerry and The Pacemakers.

Evocative at times of recordings made by the late Michael Hedges, Metheny has constructed a contemplative and deeply emotional set quite unlike anything he has released before. The fact that the November 2001 session was not originally intended for public consumption and was entirely improvisational in nature is a testament not only to Metheny's skill as a guitarist but also his innate sense of melody and harmonic structure.

Pat Metheny moves easily among varied musical settings: traditional jazz trios, post-bop experimental jazz, jazz-rock fusion, and polyrhythmic World Music, to name a few. One Quiet Night is a new color on the palette, a different texture to the canvas for Metheny but emminently satisfying. In the liner notes, Metheny hopes this album will offer his listeners "some peace and enjoyment". It should do both.

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magical Metheny At His Very Best, June 12, 2003

By 

Steven L. Hirsch "poetsteve" (Washingtonville, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: One Quiet Night (Audio CD)

I was so touched upon hearing this CD that I wept for joy, honestly. Not since Metheny's first stunning solo album "New Chatauqua" have I been so moved by a set of guitar music. The title track One Quiet Night is one of the most brilliant Metheny tracks I have ever heard. Also among my favorites are Another Chance and Over on 4th St.. This music reminds me of driving through the Colorado plains when I was 19, the spaciousness, emotion and soaring heights of my future all laid out in front of me. Don't miss this CD. It is a modern classic on a new stringed instrument (Baritone guitar) that will hopefully be heard more and more in Metheny's music. Pat is pure genius and his recording engineer should win an award for the crystal clear and shimmering sound of this album.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pat Metheny In An Intimate Setting., May 27, 2003

By 

Louie Bourland (Garden Grove CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: One Quiet Night (Audio CD)

The latest disc by Pat Metheny "One Quiet Night" surely lives up to its title. It is excellent quiet acoustic music which is ideal for playing at night after a long day at the office.
Pat recorded this album in one sitting at his home studio with just one acoustic baritone guitar. The music was recorded completely live without any overdubs. The overall feel of this CD is very relaxed and peaceful. Because Pat is playing a baritone guitar tuned down from the standard guitar tuning, it often sounds as if he is playing a guitar and a bass simultaneously. In a way, he actually is especially when the low guitar strings are played.
His rearrangements of his older original material are superb especially "Last Train Home". The original version from 1987's "Still Life (Talking)" was centered around a chugging brushed drum rhythm. This new solo version has an almost down-home country feel to it and is only recognizable when the melody comes in.
In addition to the original material and its reworkings, Pat also throws in three cover tunes. The best of these is his great version of Gerry and the Pacemakers "Ferry Cross The Mersey". Pat's arrangement is reminiscent of the artists that performed on the Windham Hill label back in the day.
All in all, Pat's latest album is truely excellent. It is very calming and soothing. It's perfect music for sitting in front the fireplace or having a nice intimate dinner with someone you love. It's also great for falling asleep to and for getting your mind off of life's every day troubles.