Song X: Twentieth Anniversary [Import]

Pat Metheny, Ornette Coleman, Pat Metheny/ornette Coleman | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 9, 2005)
• Original Release Date: 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Nonesuch Records
• ASIN: B000A2FHCE
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #116,074 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The Texas-born alto saxophonist, composer, and free jazz pioneer Ornette Coleman influenced generations of musicians, including a guitarist from Missouri named Pat Metheny. Two decades after their 1985 recording, this remastered and remixed edition – with Coleman’s son Denardo and Jack DeJohnette both on drums, with long time bassist Charlie Haden – sounds fresher than ever. The original eight tracks, from the bluesy, midtempo "Mob Job," laced with Coleman’s eerie violin strains, and the crying ballad "Kathelin Gray" to the interlocking title track, all exhibit the quantum physics approach to melody, rhythm, harmony and improvisation Coleman calls Harmolodics. The additional, six unreleased selections from the Coleman canon include "The Good Life," a Latin-tinged number, the hyper-bopped "Word From Bird," Compute," and the melodically dark shadows of "The Veil." As Metheny wrote in the liner notes, "This twentieth-anniversary edition of record feels like an improvement and reveals a more complete picture of our efforts."--Eugene Holley, Jr.

Product Description

CD > POPULAR MUSIC > JAZZ

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Song X" Turns Twenty!!!, August 9, 2005

By 

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

This review is from: Song X: Twentieth Anniversary (Audio CD)

In honor of Ornette Coleman's 75th birthday as well as 20 years since the recording of Pat Metheny and Coleman's groundbreaking collaboration "Song X", Metheny and Nonesuch records bring us "Song X: Twentieth Anniversary".
Remastered and remixed with superior quality, the anniversary edition not only presents "Song X" with the album's original eight tracks but also features an additional six from the same 1985 recording sessions. Instead of being tacked onto to the end of the album, the disc opens with the bonus material which is in the same vein as the original album with a few experimental turns and twists. "Compute", for example, includes some far-out electronic percussion effects from drummer Denardo Coleman (Ornette's son) while "All Of Us" is a fast-charged unison piece that races at rapid speed before ending at just 15 seconds.
As for the previously released material, it is presented in a stunning new mix with all of the instrumentation being given greater depth and space. This is especially apparent on the 13-minute free-for-all "Endangered Species" in which the tight dissonant improvisations now appear to be less cluttered. Also, listen for Pat's shout of excitement during the drum solo in this piece ("Wooo") which was mixed out of the original album.
Mixing improvements are also prevelant in "Video Games", "Trigonometry" and the closing track "Long Time No See" which feature more prominent drums and beefier equalization to the guitars and saxophone.
Indeed, the twentieth anniversary of "Song X" is something very dear and special. The chemestry between Pat and Ornette really shines with brilliance here. Their solid rhythm backing of Denardo, Jack DeJohnette and Charlie Haden gives the extra push this music needs to be perfectly flawless. With its bonus material, new liner notes, original artwork and deluxe packaging, "Song X: Twentieth Anniversary" is highly recommended. Even if you already have the original CD, it's worth it to buy it all over again.

On a personal note: I bought the original "Song X" in 1994, eight years after its original release. Although I had been a big Metheny fan for 10 years at the time, I had never heard of Ornette Coleman until I heard "Song X". It was my introduction to Ornette's music and have been a fan ever since.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rich, exciting. but NOT BACKGROUND MUSIC. Got to listen., August 15, 2006

By 

'satiably curious "Jon" (Detroit, MI USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Song X: Twentieth Anniversary (Audio CD)

I love this album. It crosses both musical and social boundaries.
Although Ornetted Coleman's music appears to be an "acquired taste". I feel that, like Ligeti, Messiaen or Lutoslawski, the taste is worth acquiring for the reward it returns. This is a good example. It may take the usual Metheny fan out of his/her comfort zone for a bit, but if you hang in, that comfort zone might expand quickly into an energy zone. The unusual Metheny fan knows that Pat Metheny does occasionally stretch out like this. He does it well, too.
For the usual Coleman fan: If you enjoyed "Dancing In Your Head" and "Beauty Is a Rare Thing", this one may just lift you out of yourself for a while. But please - try to listen undistracted.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Revelation, September 28, 2005

By 

Guy Blaque - See all my reviews

This review is from: Song X: Twentieth Anniversary (Audio CD)

The first reviewer's comments should be viewed as those of a hard-core Pat Metheny Group fan who doesn't recognize that Metheny's trio and other non-Group projects are an entirely different breed of cat from the PMG stuff.

Song X has been one of my favorite discs for a long time. This new re-working is so substantially different that it's like hearing a new project. The six new songs provide a great introduction to the thrust of the project, and, when considered with the original songs, form a more cohesive and organic effort. The improved sound/clarity is stunning -- Metheny's lines, in particular, sound dramatically different. On the original release, his guitar tone sounded pretty similar throughout the entire set. On the re-release, there is a great variety of tones/textures/hues used. Anyone who has even a passing interest in the first Song X simply must own this one. It's a marvel.