Speaking of Now

Pat Metheny

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 12, 2002)
• Original Release Date: February 12, 2002
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Warner Bros / Wea
• ASIN: B00005V6IF
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (140 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #14,730 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Throughout its 25-year history, the Pat Metheny Group has consistently had the power to reinvent itself, developing an ever-broader musical vision. Speaking of Now reflects substantial changes since the band was last assembled. The core remains intact, with Lyle Mays, Metheny's composing partner since the beginning, still contributing keyboards and some eloquent acoustic piano. Bassist Steve Rodby is here as well, but there are some new additions. Mexican-born drummer Antonio Sanchez is a creative fountain of rhythm, while Richard Bona, from Cameroon, has joined the band on vocals and percussion. There's an unearthly serenity in Bona's high-pitched vocals and they've clearly shaped some of the composing here. Trumpeter Cuong Vu's presence marks the first time a horn player has been a member of PMG, and his laconic, airy trumpet is a perfect complement to Metheny's guitar. The Group has always had the ability to fuse elements from different cultures into a graceful and floating whole, but this version sets new standards for sheer sonic beauty, like the welling orchestral breadth that underscores Bona's voice on "You." Highlights seem to abound, but the guitar solos on "Proof" and "A Place in the World" testify to Metheny's inspiration. --Stuart Broomer

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunningly beautiful & uplifting sounds for a post 911 world, February 12, 2002

By	William Merrill "eclecticist" (San Antonio, TX United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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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21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 71 Minutes of Brilliant Contemporary Music, February 22, 2002

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

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.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Guitar Sounds, Great Ensemble Playing, March 28, 2002

By	Jan P. Dennis "Longboard jazzer" (Monument, CO USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.