Customer Reviews

Speaking of Now

5 star:		(69)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(22)
2 star:		(19)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Once again, the Pat Metheny Group has reinvented themselves with the addition of 3 new members. Antonio Sanchez on drums adds a whole new level of excitement with his superlative percussion work. Cuong Vu becomes the first dedicated trumpet player and his spacey Mark Isham like sound fits perfectly into the dense harmonic arrangements of their music. Finally, Richard Bona's deep and smooth vocal style rekindles the Brazilian aspects of the group which were left out in their previous CD Imaginary Day.

Speaking of Now is 71 minutes of tight, intense, uplifting, and musically complex sounds that this group has never put together before on one single recording. There is not one single track on this recording that you won't want to listen to over and over again. A few tracks deserve special mention, as they are show stoppers when they take this CD on their 2002 World Tour.

"Proof" is modern jazz at its finest, with an intense electrifying sound to it, even though both Lyle Mays (piano) and Cuong Vu (trumpet) solo on acoustic instruments. Pat Metheny's blistering dissonant electric guitar solo is one his most creative and exciting ever recorded in the studio, and you cannot help but marvel at the interplay between the guitar, bass by Steve Rodby, and drums by Antonio Sanchez. Lyle's piano solo is equally complex and demanding as he has never sounded better in the PMG's group context. His solo on this track alone exemplifies how he is one of the finest jazz pianists of our day.

"A Place in the World" is simply a stunning composition reminiscent of "The First Circle" from the 1980's when Pedro Aznar was their first featured vocalist. Again, Lyle delivers a well paced and harmonically dense solo that fits the piece like a glove. The melody of this song is so beautiful that it may reverberate in your mind for days after you first hear it.

The final track "Wherever You Go" is well placed at the end. It starts out with simple melody that leads into a long guitar solo that is built around constantly shifting chord changes and a tempo that increases in pace as the solo develops. It is another example of how Pat Metheny can craft a solo on electric guitar with a beginning, middle and end, like no other guitarist on this planet can. What makes this particular solo so memorable is how he develops is over constantly shifting chord and tempo changes. The last part of the track adds the vocals of Richard Bona and Cuong Vu to a circular melodic theme that changes pitch and key as it builds to a climax. Once again, this is another melody that you will be hearing in your mind well after the CD is finished playing.

Simply put, this is the best CD by the Pat Metheny Group to date, and contemporary music just does not get any better than this.
Play it loud, as this is not smooth jazz.
It is music that defies categorization. It is music that will lift your spirits, challenge your mind, and make this world just a little bit more enjoyable to live in.

Addendum: Response to the negative criticism of this CD.
I must admit that I am shocked by all the negative reviews of this CD, which I believe is the groups best and most sophisticated to date. Two ideas come to mind.

1. PLAY IT LOUD. When I first heard Still Life (Talking), I thought that Pat Metheny was making a recording that intentionally was meant to satirize smooth jazz. The first track, Minuano, is stunningly beautiful. And "So May it Secretly Begin" is a brilliant tribute to his idol Wes Montgomery. "Last Train Home" is overrated, and lacks anything memorable. The rest of the is nice but nothing notable.
Play that CD loud and it sounds a lot better.
Speaking of Now dwarfs Still Life in every way imaginable. It draws upon many of his world music influences, yet at its core is a solid jazz base that eclipses any previous group effort in its sophistication. In order to appreciate the complexity of this recording, it must be played loud, and the brilliant subtleties begin to shine.

2. Accessibility is not a negative. What struck me at first when hearing this CD is how accessible each tune is on first listening. They are all new melodies, yet they sound as if they have been in my psyche for years. Many of the songs created an intense emotional reaction on first, and subsequent listenings.
This CD summarizes the essence of what Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays are all about: Taking modern jazz in a new direction that constantly surprises, teases, and massages one's aural and kinesthetic senses.
Don't let the accessibility of this music fool you. It is complex, dense, lush, and beautiful in ways never before achieved by this group.

The praiseworthy aspects of this new PMG disc are so numerous, but let me mention just a few.

First and most important, the songs all have an open, soaring and joyful quality that says the human spirit can endure and even triumph over sorrow - certainly a most relevant message for today. Longtime fans of Pat and the PMG know that the Metheny-Mays songwriting partnership has yielded many such uplifting compositions, but Speaking Of Now is positively chock-full of them.

Second, there are the wonderful performances by each member of the group. The new CD gives each musician several chances to step forward into the spotlight, but of course the synergy from the different players working together is what produces the greatest moments of transcendence. The 3 newest members add unique flavors to the group's sound, especially trumpeter Cuong Vu, a Vietnamese American now living in NYC. Drummer Antonio Sanchez (from Mexico) and vocalist/percussionist Richard Bona (Cameroon) also provide very valuable contributions.

A third element I really dig about the CD is the diversity of the material. Things like Pat's liquid guitar lines and Lyle Mays' resonant piano chords are very familiar, but those elements are now offered in new and varied settings like the dreamy folk-pop of "You" or a busy urban collage ("Proof"). Wordless vocals have long been a characteristic of PMG albums going all the way back to Nana Vasconcelos' tenure, but Mr. Bona's singing gives the songs more of an earthly context that contrasts nicely with all the lightness of Pat and Lyle's often airy textures. Sometimes it almost sounds like he is singing a lyric, but when I listen closely I can't make out any actual words.

Just 2 other notes:
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The Pat Metheny Group have really challenged themselves musically since its inception 25 years ago. The results have been very delightful and impressive and of course their multiple grammy's are well deserved. Pat Metheny Group has found a very significant spot in modern jazz. I have listened to their latest recording "Speaking of Now" from Warner Bros. It is a magnificent documentation of how expansive music and jazz in particular can be. The album most closely resembles some of their earlier recordings including "First Circle", however the Group has gone places musically where they have never gone before with the addition of three new band members. We hear traces of African music, Jazz, Blues, and Pop music on this album.

1. As It Is 7:40
This piece starts off beautifully with a "Beatles like" beat. Pat plays guitar synthesizer about 3 minutes and 20 seconds into the recording and his playing is complimented by Antonios wonderful rythmic patterns and Steve's supportive bass line. A great tune.

2. Proof 10:13
This one is fast paced and shows off Antonios' unique drumming skills. It is one piece that has a straight ahead jazz feel to it where Pat and Lyle provide killer solos. Cuong Vu plays trumpet flawlessly.

3. Another Life 7:08
This tune starts off with a beautiful vocal segment from Richard and Coung and is proceeded with Pat playing acoustic guitar. It falls back into the vocal segment, then Pat picks up again on acoustic guitar. A very beautiful piece.

4. The Gathering Sky 9:22
This piece starts off with an African pop flavored beat it continues into an optimistic and highly melodic piece, eventually picking up speed. As the piece gets closer to the end Lyle gets on the synthesizer and does his thing with exotic percussion in the background.

5. You 8:24
Here is where Richard Bona sings similarly to Pedro Aznar in First circle or Nana Vasconcelos in Travels. Excellent composition from Pat. Very soft, very romantic.

6. On Her Way 6:04
This one has a very uplifting feel to it. This one is cool. Lots of guitar soloing from Pat, complimenting the voice section.

7. A Place In The World 9:52
Modern jazz at its best. Cuong provides really beautiful trumpet solo. Lyle provides a pleasant piano solo performance. Pat gets to strum his guitar here.

8. Afternoon 4:43
This is one of my favorite pieces on the album. Richard is the lead singer here too, suggesting that he has picked up where Pedro left off. Antonio displays very impressive drumming.
"Afternoon" represents the best in pop music.

9. Wherever You Go 8:04
A very melodic piece. This is definitly the best way to end the album.

This is Pat Metheny Group's most revealing effort to date. I highly recommend "Speaking of Now".

This is an extremely rich and very well crafted CD. The compositions are superb; all the usual PMG features are there - the careful attention to harmonic development, catchy melodies which don't tire long-term, a great deal of rhythmic interest, excellent comping from Lyle, a well balanced sound, plenty of breath to sing along to, and solos which are stories in themselves. Add to all that what's new with this album: an extremely talented drummer allowing for grooves PMG have never been able to play before, a vocalist to excel like the sorely missed Pedro Aznar who featured all too briefly in PMG's discography, and a highly innovative trumpet player, and reap the complex crossrhythms, scintillating solos and new sounds.

For some this album may seem backward compared to recent adventures such as Imaginary Day and We Live Here from which we have come to expect every PMG album to sound totally different from what's come before; on the surface, Speaking of Now sounds similar to older PMG albums like First Circle and Letter From Home. But that's just the surface, because beneath the calm cool familiar overall sound are all those new features, but you may have to listen real hard to get them. This is an album which requires 100% attention and maybe several undisturbed listening sessions to be understood and the music grasped. It only sounds like lift music if you turn it down real quiet on your hi-fi and have a conversation at the same time... but that's just not the point of what these amazingly talented musicians are doing.

For anyone who's prepared to put in serious listening time, the rewards are great. This is an album you'll love forever. With every listen there will be new details in the solos, the harmonies, the melodies, the communication, for you to notice. You may never tire of this album...

This newest release from the Pat Metheny Group is a very listenable recording. With half the band new, veterans Pat Metheny (guitars), Lyle Mays (piano and keyboards) and Steve Rodby (bass) hint at some of their earlier recordings, with lovely melodies and soaring arrangements that will echo in your mind long after the CD ends. New members Richard Bona (vocals, various instruments), Cuong Vu (trumpet, vocals) and Antonio Sanchez (drums) add a new dimension to the Group's sound. Bona brings a more African flavor to the vocals, still wordless vocalise, but utilizing the melodic element of the tunes to real advantage. Vu is best known as a rather avant garde trumpeter and he adds a fresh dimension to the Group's sound. Sanchez's drumming is powerful and musical. Metheny and Mays are the composers on this recording, and they have provided some wonderfully memorable tunes. Tracks like You, The Gathering Sky, Afternoon and Wherever You Go will keep listeners coming back to this recording again and again, and finding new things to enjoy each time.

More than any other premier jazz guitarist, Pat Metheny consistently finds striking and beautiful contexts to integrate his prodigious chops and hip colorations into. This latest incarnation of the Pat Metheny Band is, strangely, given the resumes of the new members, arguably the best yet. Cuong Vu, the avant garde trumpeter and Richard Bona, the popish Camaroon singer and bassist, would seem unlikely bandmates, but they mesh seemlessly with the core of Metheny, Mays, and Rodby.

Harking back to classic Metheny outings like Offramp and As Falls Wichita, Speaking of Now features the same mesmorizing wordless vocals, smart piano and synthesizer playing, and the simply incredible guitar wizardry that characterize the best Metheny offerings.

But there's some magical extra thing happening all over this disc that has been only intermittently present on recent Metheny discs, a je ne sais quoi, a joi de vivre, that is most welcome. Somehow, old and new mesh to create music that has not right to be so lush and dazzling.

This hasn't left my CD player since I bought it a week ago. Highest recommendation.

I must admit, like a number of PMG fans, I was intially disappointed when I first heard Speaking of Now. Eagerly anticipating a new Group release, I was expecting something along the lines of the kind of pioneering sound and intermediate level of listenability that had become a hallmark of "Imaginary Day" and "Trio Live", so I had frowned a bit after hearing the non-intrusive quality of the melodic lines that make up this batch of tunes.

Then I saw them live, and everything snapped into place.

Pat Metheny had intimated that his last few albums were the results of reaching some very specific creative goals, and that with Speaking of Now, he wanted that lyrical quality that his earlier records had. He succeeded, but he has done so without sacrificing originality. Take, for instance, the one tune that people can't seem to shut up about, the second track (Proof). The level of listenability is very high (a metrically transparent seven-note tattoo is the main melodic fragment), but has the kind of solo form that is totally new for the group. Pat plays a solo (wonderfully, but that goes without saying), then the tune cools down for a moment before trumpter Cuong Vu solos (and though I never liked the trumpet too much, Cuong has a remarkable ability to create very non-trumpet-like sounds, and in his solos, use space as effectively in his solos as he does the instrument's voice. A true master.), but after the solo, instead of cooling down again he immediately hands off soloing duties to pianist Lyle Mays (in my humble opinion, nobody can touch Lyle. Some people may claim that as a soloing guitarist Pat Metheny has depleted his vocabulary [though I don't think so], but Lyle seems to create new sounds with the same 88 keys, day in, day out)!

The true genius in this album lies beneath, under the veneer of the high listenability level. How does the saying go--God is in the details? Also noteworthy is Richard Bona's handling of the tune "You", a tune that I imagine will remain a staple of PMG's live vocabulary long after they have finished touring this album. Additionally, I was a little wary of drummer Paul Wertico being replaced, but Antonio Sanchez has so much power in his grooves, but at the same time, total musical sensitivity and awareness. (Note: the drum solo on track 4, he's doing it all himself--cowbell activated by foot pedal and something totally different with his hands. I thought it was two people until I saw him do it live.)

All in all, this album is worth the money, and worth the listening. It will grow on you, if you give it the chance.

After writing two fairly savage reviews of this CD for Amazon -- one so harsh that I dared only sign it 'Anonymous of Basingstoke' -- I have to change my vote on this one. The CD has scarcely been off my turntable for the past three weeks, and I find myself constantly humming the tunes...

But I still can't help feeling we're pretty close to the end of the long run of the Pat Metheny Group. This album has a very strong retrospective feel, with references to many earlier works (even to THE FALCON AND THE SNOWMAN). I don't believe that Pat is trying to create a young band that can carry on without him, so my advice is to make the most of it while it lasts.

I bought my first Pat album back in 1978 and have been a huge fan going back to the Phase Dance days and I know this will be an unpopular review. But PMG's periodic output has suffered greatly over the past ten to 15 years. This latest offering is proof positive that the writing, right down to the obligatory ballad with classical guitar, and arrangements are just stamped out for the masses. It is all very pretty and pleasant but Pat and Co. don't ever challenge themselves as a group anymore and thus never produce any albums these days that are as consistently astonishing as First Circle or even We Live Here. There may be a quality tune or so on each album but not much more. The contrast is striking if you look at how Pat challenges himself in so many different ways outside of PMG.

I'm sick of everyone dumping on PMG. I just came back from PMG's "Speaking of Now" concert here in CT (on 2/28), and there is still no one in the vast world of jazz that even comes close. PMG is playing better than ever. The audience was completely blown away -- from the fresh playing of "First Circle", to new tracks like "Proof" and "The Gathering Sky". Antonio Sanchez covers more surface area than any drummer on the planet (and more forcefully than did Wertico); both Bona and Vu are exceptionally solid. Lyle has been synthing horns for years; it's nice to have the real deal.

The Metheny-Mays nucleus has been composing original music for nearly 25 years. To dismiss their talent on the basis of one album is incredibly disrespectful; it shows no understanding of how the creative process works. People have set ridiculously high expectations; if a PMG album doesn't give them an immediate religious experience, they condemn it. No one likes EVERY track of EVERY album EVER created by any artist. PMG is a journey, not a destination. So enjoy this great album for the wonderful gift that it is -- and then, please, just shut up about it.