Subj : Re: Jazz guitar
To : Paul Lawson
From : Martin Ridgley
Date : Tue Sep 12 2000 08:02 pm
-=> Paul Lawson wrote to Martin Ridgley <=-
PL> Martin Ridgley wrote in a message to Paul Lawson, re: Pat Metheny:
MR> I've only got about 5 or 6 of his albums, all from the 1970s, and
MR> all on the ECM label. I like 'em all, but something - possibly
MR> Lyle Mays keyboard work - turned me off him around that time, and
MR> I stopped buying his albums.
PL> I like lyle mays, I had one of his solo efforts a while back and it
PL> was interesting to see how much of the Metheny group sound was his.
I think I got turned off him when I saw them live in about 1980, or
so. His style and choice of sounds didn't seem to suit what Metheny
was doing at all.
PL> Wow from the '70s, you have his real early stuff.
Yeah, well it was a natural thing, really - he appeared on the scene
just around the time my friends and I were really getting into jazz.
I mean, I was just discovering people like Ellington, Dave Brubeck,
Miles Davis, and The Modern Jazz Quartet, but we were also listening
to the new, more progressive artists who were kept coming up - Larry
Coryell, John MacLaughlin & the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Weather Report,
etc. Being a bass player, I heard about Jaco Pastorius pretty early
on - maybe even before he joined Weather Report, I'm not sure. In
any case, there wasn't much stuff by him on the market yet, so I was
searching for anything I could find. One of those things was an
album by Pat Metheny called, "Bright Sized Life". And that's what
got me into him. I bought it for the bass player, but soon began to
realize I loved this new guitar player's style, too. So I kept buying
his albums as they came out for a few years after that.
PL> Try checking out Travels, it's a live double CD that highlights most
PL> of his '80s work. For studio I think his best '80s is "Off Ramp"
PL> If it was possible to wear out a CD, my copy would be through.
Noted. That's as good a recommendation as any. ;-)
PL> Towards the tail end of the '80s he got onto a brazillian kick
PL> for a bit. Not to the Lee Ritenour extent but many of the
PL> rythums have a heavy latin feel. I like "still life(talking)"
PL> from that period.
Yeah, I might like some of that stuff, but over all I think it's
best if avoid it until I get chance to hear some of it.
PL> The best he has to offer from most of the '90s are projects that
PL> don't include the full Metheny group. He did a CD with Gery
PL> Burton (he got his start in his band) called reunion thats
PL> fantastic, another project with Roy Haynes and Dave Holland
PL> called "Questions and Answers" thats mostly bop and aslo
PL> fantastic.
That last one sounds intriguing to me.
PL> His last recording is called Quartet featuring the core of the
PL> Metheny group very nice with some interesting explorations (can't
PL> think of a better word) on it. The last full Metheny group CD
PL> is also interesting, he seems to be getting into much more
PL> isoteric stuff using some unique instruments. As I said I'm a
PL> huge Metheny fan so take that under advisement.
Yep. Trust me... I'm not going to go out and buy his whole
catalogue tomorrow. But a couple of things you've mentioned do
sound interesting to me. ;-)
PL> I think he's the most versatile player out there and one of the
PL> finest just straight players I've ever heard. Listen to his
PL> phrasing, it's enough to make you cry.
Well, I did like his mid-to-late '70s stuff a lot, but I have to
admit that I haven't listened to him much since about 1980. I'm
putting "Off Ramp" and "Questions and Answers" on my acquisition
list. I think that ought to make for a good reintroduction.
MR> <sigh> I'm afraid I'm still in the dark ages when it comes to
MR> computer technology. Believe it or not, I still don't have either
MR> a CD/ROM, or a burner. ;-\
PL> Wow! You must be running DOS and maybe windows 3.1. :)
Close. I'm actually cruising now with Windoze 95 - but that's
still a couple of generations behind the leaders. And my hardware
is almost prehistoric! Still, it works for my simple needs and
that's all that really matters - until the next time it crashes! ;-\
MR> I'll send you an email anyway though, 'cause this is probably
MR> off-topic for the echo.
PL> Sounds good, I'll look forward to hearing from you!!!
Oops again... I better make a note to actually do that one of
these days. Talk to you soon, Paul....
Martin
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