Label: Modern Recordings, 2021
Personnel - Pat Metheny: guitar, bass guitar; James Francies; piano, synth, organ; Marcus Gilmore: drums.
The compositional rigor and fluid guitarism of Pat Metheny is fully on display on his latest album, Side-Eye NYC (V1.IV), which features him alongside two new mates of a younger generation, the keyboardist James Francies and the drummer Marcus Gilmore. Together, they plunge into the guitarist’s astounding musical universe, tackling three new compositions that seem to have been tailor-made for this ensemble format and dressing old material with elegant, contemporary sonic outfits. The album was recorded live at Sony Hall in New York.
The opening track, “It Starts When We Disappear”, is one of the new pieces and the album’s best. There’s this atmospheric radiation at start - devised with electronic loopers and a continual cymbal pulsation - that leads us to a beautiful guitar melody. Traveling splendorous musical avenues with irresistible drive and perceptive modulation, the trio surprises not only with transient offbeat maneuvers ingeniously pulled out of Francies’ hat - who also delivers a breathtaking solo - but also clever changes of mood from one passage to another. The emotional factor is stressed during Metheny’s improvisation, and there’s a crossover appeal that recalls the fabulous 1994 album We Live Here.
“Lodger” and “Zenith Blue” are the two other novelties. The former probes pop/rock balladry with an invulnerable bluesy touch, integrating pollution-smeared guitar, sustained organ chords and a suitable 4/4 pulse; the latter, instead, is a colorful fusion piece with curious rhythms and a contemplative vision that definitely seeks the beauty of things. And what a catchy synth guitar sound by the bandleader on this one!
Previously recorded pieces include: “Better Days Ahead”, a co-arrangement by Metheny and Francies that almost feels like a cooly paced bossanova number with glossy funk running at the backbone and plenty of jazz-folk melodies at the surface; “Timeline”, a curiously structured tune written for Elvin Jones and recorded with the drummer and the saxophonist Michael Brecker in 1999; and Ornette Coleman’s widely played “Turnaround”, which goes deep into the blues. Rounding out the program are two pieces taken from Metheny's 1976 album Bright Size Life, which get absolutely delightful treatments here. The clearer-in-sound “Bright Size Life” it’s like watercolor brushstrokes that builds into candid passion when Francies lays down a magnetic harmonic sequence to back up the late stage of the guitar solo, whereas “Sirabhorn” brings back that sophisticated folk-jazz deliberation, but featuring Gilmore’s tastefully subdued drumming.
A thrilling collaborative energy inundates this mature, engaging trio album, an impossible-to-ignore addition to the guitarist’s formidable discography.
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Favorite Tracks:
01 - It Starts When We Disappear ► 04 - Bright Size Life ► 08 - Zenith Blue