PAT METHENY — Pat Metheny Group ‎: Letter From Home (review)

PAT METHENY — Pat Metheny Group ‎: Letter From Home album cover

Album · 1989 · World Fusion

4.5/5 · 2024-10-27
FunkFreak75

One of those albums that I find myself compelled to dance to no matter if I'm sleeping, sitting, or walking. (Yes: I've had dreams to some of this music.) I was fortunate enough to have attended a concert during the Group's tour of this album--with all three of my brothers sitting beside me. I'll always remember the concert for A) how hard all of the musicians worked to perfectly render this music live, on stage and 2) for never dancing so hard, so continuously at any concert before or since (and I'd been to a Parliament concert in 1979!) and yet never leaving my seat!

1. "Have You Heard" (6:25) such a high-spirited song with amazing performances from everybody in the band. Those vocal/guitar/keyboard melodies are so infectious; once heard they dominate one's brain for days! (10/10)

2. "Every Summer Night" (7:13) opening with a BURT BACHARACH Arthur-like feel (and simplicity) with some equally engaging melodies coming from Pedro, Lyle, and Pat. Thoroughly winning and joy-ful. (I cannot help but smile my hugest [&*!#]-eating grin throughout the course of this song. Amazing.) Some great soloing from Pat in the fourth minute that ties in with his work on his 1991 solo masterpiece, Secret Story. Perhaps not the most impressive song for complexity, intricacy, and surprise, but a masterpiece nonetheless--especially to the soul. (14/15)

3. "Better Days Ahead" (3:03) a super-fun song with a definite care-free Brazilian vibe (and complex meters). There is some excellent work here from Lyle as well as Pat on his electrically-amplified acoustic guitar but even moreso from those rollicking percussionists/multi-instrumentalists up on the backstage risers. (8.875/10)

4. "Spring Ain't Here" (6:55) a gentle, hypnotic weave from the start led by Pat's heavily-effected guitar and boosted by Lyle's piano and the percussionists' laid-back support--as well as Pat's great melodies. And it's still danceable! I love the peaceful melody-making that is perfectly appropriate for a child's lullaby.(13.5/15)

5. "45/8" (0:57) Latin fun! (4.5/5)

6. "5-5-7" (7:54) another song with an absolutely killer construct--so filled with excitement and potential--all lurking Pat and Lyle's twin exposition of the melody line until 1:08 when their is a change in motif into something more classically jazz, but then at 1:35 we move back to the original motif where the infectious melody line is trebled with the vocalese talents of Pedro Aznar. This is obviously meant to be the chorus. The band moves back to the jazzy motif for Pat to burst into an extended solo of impressive jazz guitar play, everybody laying back in support until the beginning of the sixth minute when Pat's Wes Montgomery-like chords and Paul Wertico's cymbal crashes signal a transition into a different motif--one that sees the band return to the chorus at 6:06 with Pedro given the full lead over Lyle and Pat--an expression he takes to the song's gentle end. Excellent! (14.25/15)

7. "Beat 70" (4:55) moving back into Brazillian joy, the bassa nova/Caribbean rhythm track evokes full movement, engaging the hara/dantien with full license to abandon all inhibition! Enter the steel drums and other Calypso instruments from the multi-instrumentalists up top and we have a sure-fire expression of rollicking fun and island spirit. Pedro's vocalese of Pat and Lyle's main melody is one that you can't help but want to sing out with--but singing is not enough! You have to move! Your hands have to drum! Your voice has to hit its top volume! (9.3333/10)

8. "Dream of the Return" (5:26) the repetition of the form, style and formula of Pedro's ever-popular (and super-powerful) "Más Allá (Beyond)" from his first collaboration with Pat and Lyle, 1984's First Circle album--this time incorporating a little punch of Disney princess theme music thrown in for good measure). It's good but not nearly as powerful as Más Allá. (8.75/10)

9. "Are We There Yet" (7:55) a song constructed and performed to exemplify much more of the band's odd-tempo rock and jazz-rock fusion proclivities and talents, there are odd and challenging (for the listener) things going on all over this song while Lyle Mays' genius definitely comes shining through as Pat's famous horn guitar cuts through all of the brutal obstacles to deliver a "Are You Going With Me?" caliber albeit sometimes more-angular solo. Also a great illustration of a how critical (and versatile) are the contributions of all of the other "Group" members. The unexpected and eerie pause in the sixth minute always gets me--especially when the other tracks from the previous minute are exposed for a few seconds as if from far away--but then, that is part of the genius of this band: always coming up with creative and unusual ideas for their musical expression. (13.75/15)

10. "Vidala" (3:03) bleeding over from the end of the previous song, sustained synth washes provide the soil for Pedro and Paul Wertico to express what sounds and feels like some kind of Scottish folk anthem. The other instrumentalists join in giving the music more of an Andean sound with panpipes. I don't know why I'm always so surprised by Pedro's perfect English pronunciation. I suppose it's because he always sings in wordless vocalese or Portuguese. A very cool song that I always forget exists but then really enjoy when it comes on. (8.875/10)

11. "Slip Away" (5:25) one of the Group's main staples and concert favorites, this song sounds very much like some of the music Pat put into his soundtrack to The Falcon and the Snowman a few years previously. The rhythm track is so engaging, but the melodies even moreso--especially with Pedro's iconic vocalese but even Pat's every note from his iconic jazz guitar evokes joy and a kind of nostalgic beauty. (9.25/10)

12. "Letter from Home" (2:33) Another kind of "reprise" of a previous song from the Group ("In Her Family" from 1987's Still Life (Talking)). (9/10)

Total Time: 61:34

Overall an excellent album with even more accessibility for the general public than previous albums.

A-/five stars; a masterpiece of radio-friendly and crowd-pleasing melodic jazz-rock fusion that every prog lover should experience whilst driving in the countryside with the wind blowing in your hair! (And yet, this is NOT "Yacht Rock" or "Smooth Jazz": the performances and constructs are too difficult for that!)