CD ECM Records Pat Metheny Group

1978

Pat Metheny - chitara
Lyle Mays - pian, claviaturi
Mark Egan - bas
Dan Gottlieb - tobe

AllAboutJazz:
"This album stands out abit from the others I've reviewed here so far (for a number of reasons). I've been a Metheny fan for half of my life, but had never thought of his work as groove oriented (except for the relatively recent commercially-successful release). But, I was wrong. I recently became more attuned to grooves through a playing experience and it opened my ears to hearing grooves better. When I put this album on recently after a long time since I had listened to it, I was amazed. All of a sudden, I hear the groove. Not that this is incredibly funky stuff—I wouldn't go so far as to call Metheny's work funky- but the pocket is there.


Alot of it has to do with the drumming. Danny Gottlieb's work is tremendous. He and bassist Mark Egan, who have a long-standing association, did a great job holding this together and creating more than an esoteric feel on this 1978 release. Take the tribute to Pat's favorite bassist of the time Jaco Pastorius in the track Jaco. Again, not funky, but tight and in the pocket. Gottlieb's solid kick and use of the hi-hat to fill the up-beat, Lyle Mays swining fills on piano, and Egan's reverence for the downbeat all create an deceptively solid pulse. And of course, Metheny's playing flows through, fills, and accentuates the pocket."