Customer Reviews

One Quiet Night

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I was alerted that my name was referenced in a negative review for this disc; upon reading the "review" I was horrified. Stunned and horrified. I love this CD - want to be absolutely clear about that. It's hard enough to not get irritated with the incredibly silly statements in some of the reviews below, but it's downright weird to see my name printed in one of them - especially one that is so, so far off base.

This is amazing music. No, it's not a Pat Metheny Group CD. It's a recording of solo acoustic instrumental guitar music - completely different genre. It's important to judge it for what it is, and how it compares to other great recordings within that genre: Aerial Boundaries (Michael Hedges), 6 and 12 String Guitar (Leo Kottke), Passion Session (Don Ross), Intuite (Pierre Bensusan), or the many excellent releases from Ralph Towner, Bill Frisell, Steve Tibbetts, John Abercrombie, etc. This is a CD that very convincingly rises to the level set by those milestone solo acoustic recordings - and the thought that it's completely improvised makes my head spin.

It is instructive to compare "One Quiet Night" to "New Chautauqua," Pat's first solo acoustic effort from some 25 years ago. This new CD is obviously superior, but one would only expect that from an artist who has consistently grown and matured as a guitarist, composer, improviser, and musical free thinker. I can think of few guitarists on so steep a learning curve as Pat.

This CD is introspection into a brilliant musical mind. The stillness is akin to a reflective lake - a look beneath the surface reveals incredible heart, soulfulness, and depth. The melodies are exquisitely beautiful. Chord structures and harmonic voicings blossom like a slowly unfolding rose in sunlight. Pat plays with great tone, dynamic range, and technical precision. It's all captured in a sonically pristine and intimate recording environment. It just doesn't get any better than this.

And then there's the emotional aspect of this music. The sad reality of our mass-mediated culture is that so many people have allowed themselves to become desensitized to the point where they simply do not recognize beauty, and would not recognize it, even if it screamed into their faces. But beauty usually does not scream. It doesn't need to. "One Quiet Night" is sophisticated, gorgeous, and subtle. It probably will not move philistine hearts. But it brought me to tears.

This clearly stands as one of the finest recordings of Pat Metheny's distinguished career.

- Michael Gulezian (not-so-well-known solo acoustic recording artist)


p.s. The Kenny G remark is not even worth a response. Suffice it to say that I agree with Richard Thompson on the subject ...

It must be something to do with turning 42 - the jazz guitar is getting to me. I really love this album, and have been playing it continuously since it arrived. It's just Metheny playing new and favourite music on his new baritone guitar, quite unlike what BBC reviewer Peter Marsh calls "the airbrushed sheen of the Pat Metheny Group." (which I also love).

Wistful, peaceful, tonally rich, the music is perfect calming therapy. The range of the custom-tuned baritone guitar means there's a bass accompaniment to the melody, and even the track "Ferry Cross the Mersey" is delicious rather than out of place. This isn't more 'Smooth Jazz' - this is heartfelt virtuosity.

I live just outside New York City, and for the past decade, I have managed to see Pat Metheny play on average once every year or two, whether it be with the Pat Metheny Group, Pat Metheny Trio or with drummer Roy Haynes at the Village Vanguard.

On more than one occasion, I have always wondered what Pat would sound like if it was just him and an acoustic guitar. Now with this recording my wish has been granted. Pat is awesome! It's just him playing and he has filled the CD with great music. This CD ranks among Pat's best and every song is a masterpiece. If you want to hear what Pat sounds like without drums, bass and piano, you have to get this one.

Back in 1978, I was driving on the 101 S towards San Francisco. Passing through Sausalito on a crisp fall day with my young wife next to me, I heard Metheny's "San Lorenzo" for the first time. It was the first time I had heard Pat and I have been a fan ever since.

I have been following his career closely ever since that perfect moment on the highway and have rarely been disappointed by his recorded output. I realize how difficult it is for any artist to keep coming up with fresh ideas and new approaches. Jazz piano great, Richie Beirach once said that most writers only have one, possibly two songs in them that they're constantly rewriting. While it's easy to hear Pat's licks and tendencies to gravitate towards certain feels and chord progressions, rather than a liability, these musical trademarks are part of what makes him have such a distinctive voice.

Pat's trademark voicings and harmonies are in full bloom here in this intimate and moody solo outing. The playing is spare and spacious, making the CD seem a perfect background to a quiet sunday afternoon . But if one takes a closer look, a concentrated listen reveals a profound musical discipline at work. There is very little extraneous playing. It is as though Metheny made a goal of getting to the kernal of each tune, leaving the musical chaff on the floor. In a way, this reminded me of Jarrett's "The Melody at Night, with You",the difference being, that Keith relied on standards and old chestnuts wheras Metheny uses predominantly original compositions as a starting point for his austere meditations.

Metheny does sprinkle in an occasional cover. There is a great rendition of a Nora Jones song "I don't Know Why" and an old Gerry and the Pacemaker's tune that I grew up loving, "Ferry Cross the Mersey' . Speaking of Jarrett , there is beautiful reading of "My Song", one of my personal favorites of Jarrett's compositions.

The criteria I ultimately use to judge whether or not a given CD is worthy of repeated play is whether or not the album speaks to me emotionally. This is especially true of jazz recordings. An intellectual outing may captivate me at first with its virtuosity or compositional cleverness. But to stand the test of time it should first and foremost speak to me at the level of the heart. The best performances balance the two. This record speaks to me emotionally. It is an honest, heartfelt recording by an artist at the peak of his powers. While it may appear that he stays in musical low gear for most of this recording, there is much here for those who take the time to give it the attention it deserves.

One more thing: it also makes great background music.

Yet another face of Pat Metheny is highlighted. Anyone who's ever seen Pat live is aware of the way he fools around on an acoustic guitar, often as the first song of the show, as he just walks out, smiles at the applauding crowd, and plays about five minutes of nothing but sweet, melodic, and quiet notes and chords.

That's just what this is, Pat noodling in his basement.

And for anyone who's ever picked up a guitar, it's a true joy.

The use of an unusual tuning, a "Nashville" style that he picked up as a kid in Missouri, according to the liner notes, is quite a nice touch.

This is just Pat, a microphone, and some time to enjoy himself away from the noise and the clutter of his band and the road.

I found it relaxing, and haven't stopped listening to it since I got it two weeks ago.

It's a lot better than some of the contrived new age stuff that gets marketed for background music.

Nice addition to the Metheny collection.

This album by any other artist would have been considered a masterpiece. I think the problem with all the negative reviews here is that they are holding Metheny to a much higher standard than anything else. Those who say album X was wonderful, this one is bland, etc. etc. are merely expressing their own biases in taste. It's all Metheny, his artistic/technical skills have not diminished at all, if it sounds trite to you you're probably not listening carefully enough. Unlike the older reviewers here I much prefer his 90s work to his 70s-80s stuff. But that's just taste. I'm amazed he continues to put out polished albums year after year for all these decades.

What a thoroughly satisfying album! This is one of the jazz world's finest musicians playing solo baritone guitar on mostly original material. Two of the covers are--in Metheny's words--"a couple of my all-time favorite songs": Keith Jarrett's "My Song" and the Gerry and the Pacemakers ballad "Ferry Cross the Mersey." The third cover is a loving treatment of Norah Jones' recent hit, "Don't Know Why." There's nothing flashy about Metheny's arrangements here. His playing is subdued, yet entrancing. In his liner notes he writes, "I hope this documentation of those moments will offer some peace and enjoyment." He scores highly on both counts. [Total Running Time: 65:43] HIGHLY RECOMMENDED