Product Details

• Actors: Pat Metheny Group
• Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, Live, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Image Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: June 19, 2001
• Run Time: 110 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005IA89
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #76,685 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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  #9 in	Movies & TV > Music Video & Concerts > Artists > Metheny, Pat
  #10 in	Movies & TV > Music Video & Concerts > Jazz > Concerts

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Guitarist, composer, and bandleader Pat Metheny has done it all in the course of his career, and on his own terms. He's recorded in solo, duo, and trio formats and with groups of various sizes; he's composed film soundtracks, led bands with the likes of Ornette Coleman, made a variety of guest appearances, and toured all over the world. Yet it's with his own Pat Metheny Group, an outfit that he and keyboardist Lyle Mays began some 25 years ago, that he has made much of his arguably best and certainly most popular music. So it is, then, that any Metheny Group concert recording is a welcome addition to his catalog.

That's certainly true in the case of this 1995 Japanese show, even though much of the material (five of 13 songs) on We Live Here is drawn from the album of that name, which was not one of the group's finest. At its best (as on Metheny "classics" like "First Circle" and "Minuano"), the Metheny Group's music isn't really jazz, or what's usually called fusion, or world music, but rather a fluid, distinctive blend of them all; it's improvised yet composed, often quite beautiful ("Farmer's Trust," "Antonia") but also frequently challenging ("Scrap Metal"). Metheny, Mays, and the five other members of the group are all superb players, and play is exactly what they do--this is a no-frills enterprise, with some brief musician interviews between tracks (plus superb Dolby 5.1 digital or stereo sound) but no bonus DVD features. That's no surprise. With Pat Metheny it's always been strictly about the music, and that's enough. --Sam Graham

Product Description

Led by Pat Metheny--virtuoso guitarist, composer and producer--the eight member Pat Metheny Group perform their jazz fusion stylings live in Japan. Nominated for 23 Grammys in his career, Metheny and his group continue to push the envelope of jazz, leaving true believers in their wake. Tracks: Have You Heard, And Then I Knew, Here to Stay, First Circle, Scrap Metal, Farmer's Trust, Episode D'Azur, Third Wind, This Is Not America, Antonia, To the End of the World, Minuano (Six-Eight), Stranger in Town. 110 minutes.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Worst Video Production Ever, June 21, 2002

By	Pete Saxe (Appleton, WI USA) - See all my reviews

I am a HUGE fan of Metheny's musicianship and vision, and have been following him and the band for many years. I've come to know the trademark style and effort put into projects, not only from Pat but also from Mays, Rodby, and Wertico. I guess I assumed that the same standards would be applied to the camera work, and production of this recording - not so. I can't believe this video made it to production. To begin, and maybe most insulting is the fact that during the short interviews with the band members, the video producer mixed up the name of the two of the band members. Pat's guitar neck was cut out of a lot of shots, or they seemed to think that his facial expressions were the most important visual. Or when the camera person did decide to shoot Pat's guitar, either his picking hand or fretboard hand would not be shown or would not be caught in the full view of the camera. Solos by the members would not be shown, just so that we can see a distant view of his percussion players. Steve Rodby was barely shown, and overall the choice to cut between muscians came at inappropriate times. This video could have been played just to solely take in the recorded audio, but the levels of audio vary depending on who is being shown on the screen!!! This video must not have been screened by the PMG. I spit on the work of Takayuki Watanabe, Hiroyuki Kambara, and Kambara Music.

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I was hoping for so much more, November 5, 2001

By	D. Scott (So. Cal) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The audio CD "We Live Here" is fantastic! I've spent many nights listening to it with the lights down low just trying to absorb all that Pat and his group delivers. The music is intense and climatic at times, yet soothing at others. So, when I purchased this DVD, I was hoping to receive the same feeling I got with the CD with the addition of the live performance.

The first problem is the placement of the interviews. After each song, an interview with a member of the band appears. Why wasn't this placed as a Special Feature? Can you imagine buying a movie that had the commentary turned on and you were unable to disable it? I usually play concert DVDs while having company over for the music and the visual effect. I can't with this DVD. The breaks in-between each song was a poor decision (IMHO).

The sound is great, yet the video quality suffers a bit. This DVD would be best appreciated by other musicians. All members of Pat's band are phenomenal and are fun to watch. The expressive faces as they play each note is great.

This is one to rent, not to own. I'll watch it a few more times, then sell it.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of a kind!, July 29, 2001

By	Kynan Kourday "kinnan" (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Over the past 20 years, I have seen the Pat Metheny group over 20 times and every single one of their performances is a unique event into itself.

We Live Here captures a very special period in the group's history, when Pat attempted to capture the spirit of America's club scene and put it into his trademark world/fusion style. The resulting product is a stunning collection of high energy songs punctuated by an infectious backbeat made up of pre-recorded drum/percussion/bass backbeats characterstic of modern pop music.

The music itself is anybut pop. The title song is really a tribute to Marvin Gaye, yet doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to the late singer's music. It's trademark PMG material with a well constructed guitar solo and wordless vocals by his multi-instrumentalists Marc Ledford and David Blamires.

Perhaps the highlight of the CD is Lyle Mays composition Episode D'azur which opens with a brilliant acoustic solo by Lyle and is followed by one of the most complex and stunning pieces of modern jazz ever recorded live on DVD. If this isn't the future state of jazz, then nothing else is. It also lends credibility to the claim that Mays is one of the most talented pianists in modern jazz today, and is on a par with the likes of Keith Jarrett, Brad Meldhau, Chick Corea and Danilo Perez. More experimental than all of the above, his idols are the late Bill Evans and the relatively obscure Paul Bley. Not to be forgotten are "To the End of the World," where Lyle plays a romantic solo that is built on beautiful harmonic layers, and then followed by a soaring synclavier solo by Pat which ends in a climactic thunderstorm. Also worth mentioning is the only live recording of their one hit "This is Not America," written for the movie "The Falcon and the Snowman," and originally featured David Bowie on vocals. Marc Ledford and David Blamires are equal to Bowie's original vocal tracks, and the end result is wonderful.

The opening track "Have You Heard" is Pat at his best, with an electric guitar solo that puts the listener in awe of his improvisational brilliance. As quoted in previous interviews, he is one of the few modern guitarists who know how to construct a solo with a beginning, middle and end. The interviews slow down the pace of the DVD, but they are interesting from an historical perspective.

In summary, this is a must buy for anyone who follows the PMG. Soon to be release is a DVD of the Imaginary Day Tour, which takes jazz fusion to another level not reached since the days of the Mahavishnu Orchestra with John McClaughlin.