COST: £3.00
Place of purchase: HMV bargain bin
Released 2005
Record label: Nonesuch
Cover:
Although the picture above shows splashed red paint across a silver pole, my CD has a completely red pole, with people in the street walking by, just as in picture here.
Tracks:
1. OpeningMusic
2. ... Read review
pianist/keyboardist Lyle Mays, have covered an incredible amount of diverse material. On their debut recording for this label, they and their international group--bassist Stev...
pianist/keyboardist Lyle Mays, have covered an incredible amount of diverse material. On their debut recording for this label, they and their international group--bassist Steve Rodby, Mexican drummer Antonio Sanchez, Vietnamese trumpeter Coung Vu, and the Swiss-born harmonica virtuoso Gregoire Maret--distil that diversity into a continuous 68-minute opus. The challenge here lies in sustaining the melodic narrative thread while keeping the sound of surprise. Thanks to Mays' evocative pianisms and Metheny's array of acoustic, electric, and synthesized guitars, the group pulls it off. For Metheny fans, this disc contains elements of his most acclaimed recordings, from the straight-ahead swing ofQuestion and Answerand the folk-fusion ofOfframp, to the Afro-Latin tinges ofWe Live Here, the atonally adventurousZero Tolerance for Silence, and the Asian impressionism ofSecret Story.--Eugene Holley, Jr.
A review by mints4merlin on Way Up, The - Pat Metheny Group March 2nd, 2006
Author's product rating:
Originality
Lacking inspiration
Lyrics
Not applicable
Quality and consistency of tracks
Mixed
Value for Money
Poor
Advantages:
CD can be used as a wall decoration or disco ball alternative
Disadvantages:
horrid - a true torture tune 68 minutes i wont forget !
Recommend to potential buyers:
no
Full review
COST: £3.00 Place of purchase: HMV bargain bin Released 2005 Record label: Nonesuch
Cover: Although the picture above shows splashed red paint across a silver pole, my CD has a completely red pole, with people in the street walking by, just as in picture here.
Tracks: 1. OpeningMusic 2. Part OneMusic 3. Part TwoMusic 4. Part ThreeMusic
Okay, as you can see from above there are only 4 tracks on the album, but they link from one to another and are designed to be listed to in one run. In all there's 68 minutes, thats one hour and eight minutes of Jazz torture. Not that i hate jazz and that is why I say the CD was awful to listen to, not at all, infact some jazz is truely wonderful such as Still Life Talking.
This album isn't what anyone could consider easy-listening jazz, or dinner jazz, and maybe thats the problem - i adore saxaphone with a slow and soulful expression which unfortunately this album lacks completely.
This is a type of modern music jazz which trys an alternative approach to funk jazz - it's a type i havent come across before and honestly can say did not enjoy one little bit. True to say it's being a bit ambitiousand attemps to delivery jazz on the front line. Unfortunaltely it didnt do anything for me and I won't be making the mistake of buying anything from Pat Metheny in the future.
There is a variety of instruments used throughout the 68 min duration - of which make a horrid racket in an attempt to experimentally modernise jaz. This is something that shouldn't really be attempted. Jazz is as it is, a soulful and expressional artform that does not require tinkering or 'hipping' up to ''get down with the kids''. Instruments include the harmonica, which is in parts overdone, also the piano and the keyboard which instead of keeping tempo, often go off on one into a semi solo performance and ruins the flow of the music. The bass is thunderous and although expressive it does come across as if it's just fighting to be heard apart from the crazed guitar pickings. Drums are also porrly used - they tend to clash with the bass and makes listening a real challenge.
Overall I would not recommend this album, unless you are having one of those days when everything is goign far too well and you just need something to remind you about the hidious things in life. A grappling 3/10 and it really did deserve it's place in the HMV bargain bin.
Advantages: A groundbreaking highly original Landmark work! Disadvantages: None
...Beat Jazz Magazine reviewed The Way Up by describing it as the following: " A triumph...ascendant and inspirational...An ambitious work of great depth, beauty and complexity...easily the best album Metheny has made in many years and could turn out to be one of his best ever. **** 4 Stars" Down Beat
Other Magazine reviews of The Way Up are as the follows:
"A continuous 68-minute piece...Metheny builds the music as a series of interconnected themes ... ...I like straight-ahead and progressive Jazz. The Way Up is a groundbreaking statement in Jazz. This album is in the place between the cracks, where defined genres disappear into a poetic whole and what emerges is something utterly new, guided and inspired by the limitless creativity of the jazz tradition. ...
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
Album Notes: Pat Metheny Group: Richard Bona (vocals); Pat Metheny (guitar); Gregoire Maret (harmonica); Cuong Vu (trumpet); Lyle Mays (keyboard); Steve Rodby (bass instrument); Antonio Sanchez (drums). Producers: Pat Metheny; Steve Rodby; Lyle Mays. Recording information: New York, New York. Guitarist Pat Metheny has been working with long song forms since his career began in the 1970s. However, his 2005 release, THE WAY UP, takes the extended form to the next level. One composition split into four sections, this album just may be Metheny's most ambitious work to date. Collaborating with longtime associates Lyle Mays (keyboards), Steve Rodby (bass), and a host of newer PMG members, Metheny embarks on a 68-minute sonic journey. Unlike a typical jazz suite, this music doesn't break down into movements; rather, the listener hears chapters, or parts, which segue seamlessly into one another. Moreover, the composition's main theme is woven, rather slyly, throughout much of the piece, which brilliantly combines atmospheric passages with burning-hot jazz solos. In "Part Three," the music climaxes with layers of multi-tracked vocals by singer Richard Bona, with his voice soaring high above the taut rhythm section. Even though this album contains just one composition, the music never gets tiring or worn out, given its extraordinary twists and turns. Much of this is due to Metheny's newest asset, harmonica player Gregoire Maret, who contributes greatly to this bold work's development.
Album Reviews: Mojo (p.97) - 4 stars out of 5 - "Metheny builds the music as a series of interconnected themes that come to ultimate fruition near the album's end..."
Down Beat (p.69) - 4 stars out of 5 - "The texturally complex, many-tempoed music is often constructed of overdubbed layers of attractive, ear-tickling sounds..."
JazzTimes (p.70) - "[A] work of richness, complexity and stunning execution."
Titles on disc 1
1.: Opening
2.: Part One
3.: Part Two
4.: Part Three
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Listed on Ciao since : 02/03/2006
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