Customer Reviews

Rejoicing

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Metheny is often dismissed as a soft jazz or pop music sellout, but listen to this CD and you'll see that he is none of those things. His range is amazing; there is a lot of variety in his guitar voices and his improvisation is so beautiful it's hard to believe it isn't composed beforehand. This and the 'Group' album are my favorite Metheny things. He plays like a modern day Mozart.

What can you say about Higgins and Haden, except 'Thank you, Lord'.

Pat Metheny in a pure trio setting... inventive, lyrical, original. I received this album as a gift on vinyl from the very person who introduced me to Pat Metheny's music. I was startled by the purity of this recording. "Lonely Woman" begins this album in a spare yet lush presentation. Pat luxuriates in this piece with a rich chordal approach. Beautiful, dark and romantic without any sappiness. I have seldom heard Pat play acoustic in exactly the way he played this piece. Charlie Haden and Billy Higgins are just there, like air, essential supportive. The next few pieces finds Pat in and inventive Jazz guitar trio setting. Pat's unique style, lyrical yet horn-like, with that unusual phrasing brings a fresh take on each piece. Billy Higgins shows why he is so much in demand by musicians of acceptional caliber. He is swinging, driving and original. Play close attention to his cymbal work. Charlie Haden supplies supple lines and a pulse like rhythm thoughout This trio INTERACTS, they listen to one another. "A Story from A Stranger" is again one of those ballads that, for me rates among his best, fans of his well established group would be delighted with this piece, which builds from a soft lilting beginning to a guitar synth-crescendo. "The Calling is harkens back to his love of Ornette Coleman abstract yet driven, with overlapping synth-guitar lines. This one piece is likely to be an acquired taste for many. The album closes out with a whisper much like "Offramp" did. Definitely, at the time of the release a different look at the, then rising guitar legend. This is one that holds up. Here it is 2000 and I still play it.

Pat Metheny in a pure trio setting... inventive, lyrical, original. I received this album as a gift on vinyl from the very person who introduced me to Pat Metheny's music. I was startled by the purity of this recording. "Lonely Woman" begins this album in a spare yet lush presentation. Pat luxuriates in this piece with a rich chordal approach. Beautiful, dark and romantic without any sappiness. I have seldom heard Pat play acoustic in exactly the way he played this piece. Charlie Haden and Billy Higgins are just there, like air, essential supportive. The next few pieces finds Pat in and inventive Jazz guitar trio setting. Pat's unique style, lyrical yet horn-like, with that unusual phrasing brings a fresh take on each piece. Billy Higgins shows why he is so much in demand by musicians of acceptional caliber. He is swinging, driving and original. Play close attention to his cymbal work. Charlie Haden supplies supple lines and a pulse like rhythm thoughout This trio INTERACTS, they listen to one another. "A Story from A Stranger" is again one of those ballads that, for me rates among his best, fans of his well established group would be delighted with this piece, which builds from a soft lilting beginning to a guitar synth-crescendo. "The Calling is harkens back to his love of Ornette Coleman abstract yet driven, with overlapping synth-guitar lines. This one piece is likely to be an acquired taste for many. The album closes out with a whisper much like "Offramp" did. Definitely, at the time of the release a different look at the, then rising guitar legend. This is one that holds up. Here it is 2000 and I still play it.

What can I say else; it's one of the best albums he ever created. Sepecialy the first song... Lonely Woman ...everyone who is Pat's fan should listen this one! p.s. Nema sto, najbolje dosega so sum go cul od Pat Metheny

This 1984 ECM recording is, to me, is a perfect example of how the guitar/bass/drum trio should work. Produced by Manfred Eicher, Charlie Haden and Billy Higgins' rhythm section is both solid and solidly behind Pat Metheny's guitar playing.

When I bought it a few years back, after a couple of listens, I was struck by how I responded to Metheny's different forms of guitar work. My response to his acoustic playing was purely emotional, whilst my response to his electric playing was intellectual. I still haven't figured out why that is. Needless to say, I enjoy both immensely, just differently and on "Story From A Stranger", he adds in a dose of his guitar synth. It doesn't work for me everywhere he uses it but this is one of the places it works very well indeed.

The CD seems to be some kind of homage; three of the eight songs are by Ornette Coleman and the opener is by Horace Silver. Charlie Haden writes one, Pat Metheny writes two and the final tune is written by both Haden and Metheny.

I like all the songs. Well, almost. I've tried hard but I just don't get "The Calling". I guess it's one of those songs that is said to be for a 'specialist' audience. I usually just press the fast forward button - the only Pat Metheny song ever, to make me do that.

Nevertheless, I still consider it a five star CD. I think it's absolutely brilliant.

1984's "Rejoicing" finds guitar great Pat Metheny teaming up with two of his musical heroes, bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Billy Higgins (both of whom had played with legendary saxman Ornette Coleman). Together, this trio has created a standout classic that not only shows Metheny in his then-current prime but also points to what laid ahead for him musically.
The "Rejoicing" can be easily divided into two distinct halves. The first five tracks make up the straight-forward Jazz half. Metheny's interpretations of the three Ornette Coleman tunes (Humpty Dumpty, Tears Inside and the title track) are on the same par as the originals and show off amazing versitility from all three players. The opening cover of Horace Silver's "Lonely Woman" (not the same composition as Ornette's classic) is a rare piece of beauty with the goregous melody reinterpreted on acoustic guitar. Charlie Haden's original "Blues For Pat" is just that - a stellar blues piece in which Metheny really shines. Haden also delivers a muscular bass solo in this piece.
The remaining three pieces form the experimental half of the album. "Story From A Stranger" isn't too far removed from a Pat Metheny Group composition as it features a folk-like acoustic guitar melody and a horn-like lead-line played on the Roland guitar-synth. "The Calling" is a 10-minute free-form piece in which Pat showcases a near-dissonant melody from his guitar-synth while Haden compilments with haunting bowed bass drones and Higgins provides free fills across his drum kit. Halfway into the piece, it switches gears as Pat moves from the guitar-synth to distorted jagged electric guitar stabs. The overall style of this piece isn't too far removed from what he would accomplish on "Song X", his acclaimed collaboration with Ornette Coleman which was to come less than two years later. There is also a slight hint of '80s King Crimson heard in this piece. "The Calling" leads almost directly into the album's closing piece "Waiting For An Answer", a 2-minute atmospheric coda consisting of a low-drone from Haden and echoed guitar harmonics from Metheny.
Even after its release over 20 years ago, "Rejoicing" remains one of Pat Metheny's finest albums. Pat's work in a stripped-down setting gives plenty of room for improvisation and exploration. This album is no exception. The musicianship between Pat, Charlie Haden and Billy Higgins is remarkable on every track. This is definitely a must.

I was really enjoying this album. I really was. Reading a magazine, clouds moving in, breezes in the palms...then came "The Calling". I admit I'm not a dissonance aficionado, but this ripped me from my revery. A live, real time evisceration. I would, I'm sure, enjoy as much following along behind the neighborhood trash truck Wednesday mornings for 10 minutes. I'm going to have to Ipod this album, because the rest of the musical text is great. One reviewer has suggested the number might be an acquired taste, I'll try! I gave the album a 4, because one song shouldn't jade what is otherwise a fine Metheny example. BTW, I love As Falls Wichita..., and to a lesser extent, "Silent Story".

With Coleman's original "rhythm section" Metheny tackles 3 Coleman tunes, Silver's "Lonely Woman" (oh, i wish it were Coleman's) and a group of originals including the long sound exploration "The Calling" which features Metheny's Guitar synth. As a huge fan of the avant garde, it pains me to say that this cut is the weakest on the album, though still quite interesting. If you like this one, look into Song X.

Oddly, they used to say Ornette's music was just noise. Yet, if you listen now, it's positively conservative. This CD pits two of Coleman's alums with Metheny for a program on which a Horace Silver composition is the best track. But Pat couldn't seem to resist ruining what is otherwise a great record with his 9-minute noise experiment, "The Calling." This is a pretty short CD at about 44 mins, so 9 of them are a waste. I'm betting he would never put this on a CD like this today. It disrupts the flow. Maybe we'll be saying this sounds conservative someday, too. But I doubt it.