Not only my favorite contemporary jazz group of all time but my favorite group period.These guys just keep getting better and better The nucleus of the group consist of guitarist Pat Metheny, pianist Lyle Mays and bassist Steve Rodby. This group has made some of the most daring and beautiful music one can EVER want to hear. As great as their studio recordings are, live in concert they're even better. As far as picking a favorite PMG
recording goes, that's too much of a challenge for me. However, I'll list these....

First Circle
Still Life (Talking)
We Live Here
Speaking Of Now

But all of their recordings are worth your time. Plus they've just picked up an amazing trumpeter in Chung Vu
and super polyrhthmic drummer Antonio Sanchez who lays down some of the toughest drumming I've heard in a while. With this new configuration, the group can only excel. Plus Pat is such a nice human being. After
playing for 3 hours he is nice enough to come out and chat and sign autographs with fans.

Are there any other PMG fans in the org?

Brother 9/15

Right Here!!



Have You heard the New one?



But yeah, My favorites:



It's funny, I always think of Pat as a composer first and foremost, rather than a guitarist, and he's certainly a great player---but with him, the composition always hits me first , and the playing later....
[Edited 2/15/05 11:28am]

paligap said:

No but I plan to get it this weekend. It is the group most talked about
recording in some years. Pat calls it their most ambitious album to
date. I really dig the samples I've heard of TWU(like I need to hear
samples). Anything Pat does is of high quality especially within the
context of the PMG.

Oh yea....Pat's compositional talent is stunning..Him and Lyle are a
one-two punch that's hard to content with from a compositional
standpoint.


Pat's the real deal... 4 REAL
[Edited 2/16/05 4:24am]

BRO915 said:

Yeah, Lyle is Dangerous, too...amazing player...!! I wish he would record more often, outside of the group, but I do like it best when they collaborate!

I like the new album, I hear something more, each time I listen...I can't wait to see it done live!

paligap said:

This album is also one of my favorite albums that I still jam to today.

yeah, i've always liked pat metheny as well. i was first turned on to him around 1978 with the pat metheny group album. i first saw him in 1980, and have seen him in concert many times. one particular highlight in concert for me was in atlanta in 1993 he was to play one night at the roxy in support of the secret story album. he came out, and after about an hour, the lights went out, apparently, he blew their electrical system. after 2.5 hours they finally fixed it, and so he came back out well after midnight and started up the concert where he left off. when he re-started, because it had taken so long, well over 3/4 of the audience went home, so we moved up to about 2nd row. after the show, he apologized for the problems, and said that because of our patience, he scheduled another show at the roxy the following night, and every one who stayed could exchange their ticket stubs, for free seats at the following night's show. that second show, we had great seats, down very close, and he played a really great show, for a very small intimate group of hardcore fans. it kind of reminded me of the prince 2002 soundchecks. lastly, i have a front row seat in 2 weeks to see him here in portland. he is playing the roseland ballroom here 2/26/05. can't wait.

medoc2003 said:

Wow, that must have been great, almost like a private concert!!

Regarding Prince, I noticed that they seemed to stop those soundchecks for fans right when I became a member of the club , !!



...

I remember going to get an autograph from Pat when he was doing an in-store appearance at Tower Records in DC...his album, 'We Live Here', had just come out, and he was in town for the concerts. He walked from his hotel to Tower by himself( most people on the street wouldn't have recognized him, anyway, but I still thought that was pretty cool)! anyway, when my turn came, I mentioned to him that one of the album tracks, "Something to Remind You", made me think of something that Maurice White would do, particularly at the end. He said that EWF was exactly the sound they were thinking of when he and Lyle wrote it, and he mentioned how much of a huge Earth Wind and Fire fan he was! I thought that was pretty cool,too!

I have always been a fan, but loved him even more when he pointed out how much Kenny G sucks!!

sdekm1 said:

Yeah, that's Classic!!

I love his Trio 99->00 album and the one he did with Jim Hall. Which PMG record should I pick up? I really want to see him on this tour but the seats in the nosebleed section are like $50. Too rich for my blood right now

guitarslinger44 said:

I think Letter from Home or First Circle are good places to start...or Still Life(talking).....

All Metheny Group fans should go back and check out "Bright Size Life". Great stuff, and with Jaco as well...



stormbringer

He's coming to Detroit this week and I,m between checks!!!! Gotta scrape some money together!!!!

thebige said:

That's True, Bright Size Life doesn't get mentioned as much as the later albums, and it's a great one!! Pat's guitar playing really shines in trio settings and this is a perfect setting with Bob Moseson drums, and Jaco Pastorius on Bass. My favorite is the title track....I loved it when they featured that on the Group's last Speaking of Now tour, they would perform "Bright Size Life", with just Pat, Antonio Sanchez, and African multi-instrumentalist Richard Bona sizzling in Jaco's role, on the fretless bass...That was smokin!!

Unfortunately, I only own one album by them, "Still Life (talking)" but it is such an awesome disc! Getting the other albums in their catalog is my goal.

I just found their official website:

http://www.patmethenygroup.com/

I also recommend that you guys check out etree, where there are several PMG shows up for grabs...


stormbringer

There are several of his concerts on dvd also!

Hey Paligap and Medoc2003.....do you think the PMG ECM stuff needs to be remastered? I do. Pat,however. feels like the sound on those CDs are ok.

I just don't agree with that. The White Album for example, just sounds flat out flat.It REALLY needs to be remastered.

Brother 9/15

BRO915 said:

Yeah, everything From Bright Size Life on up should really be overhauled --- there's some murky sounding stuff in there...

I'm wondering if something like that would help the Travels live album. It's one of my favorites because of the performances , but the sound is pretty murky, with lots of hiss- I used to just think it was the vinyl and the cassette version I had, but when I got the CD version, it sounded just the same - I've heard bootlegs with better audio than this, ...





...
[Edited 2/21/05 7:33am]