Pat Metheny & Lyle Mays
As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls

“Tanto va la gatta al lardo…” or even “Moglie e buoi…”.

Everyone has the proverbs they deserve.

And “As falls Wichita, so falls Wichita falls” is a Yankee proverb. Which frankly is not worth jotting down in a notebook among things to remember for life.

Absolutely something to buy, listen to (preferably often) and treasure in your discography, however, we list “Wichita” by Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays, recorded for ECM in Oslo in 1980 with only Nanà Vasconcelos on percussion/vocals but conceived/composed as a duo by Pat (guitars and bass) and Lyle (various keyboards). Lyle Mays is a musician never too highly praised, a valid artistic and human alter-ego and counterpoint to Metheny: while Pat was born laughing (ask the midwife!), he doesn’t smoke, doesn’t drink, runs, everything is straightforward for him, loves (and therefore wears) those terrible striped shirts and is ultimately a “true achiever,” a respected musician at 360 degrees, Lyle on the other hand smokes, drinks (moderately: certainly not Bukowski!) and is lazy to the nth degree when it comes to physical exercise, he doesn’t lift a finger; he also has significant periods of mood swings and fallouts with Pat, like any long-term artistic pair worth its salt. And it would be strange if it weren’t so: imagine how boring.

The meeting (which took place in Wichita in '76) of two such diverse, strong, and talented personalities has progressively produced what are among the most beautiful pieces of contemporary music, since the first formation of the garage band called the Pat Metheny Group; occurring after a collaboration of Pat Metheny with the pre-existing “Lyle Mays trio” for some time. The PMG is the basin within which the two develop their music; a safe harbor, a pier from which to detach only occasionally: for the lazy Lyle simply for his beautiful solo albums. For the volcanic Pat, meanwhile, both for radical projects (Zero Tolerance, Song X) and more intimate ones (Missouri Sky, One Quiet Night, Metheny-Hall etc.) or more canonically jazz-inspired (around... a billion) and to which then to return, enriched and ready for the new upcoming adventure.

This particular chapter constitutes somewhat the forerunner of more globally fragmented and popular works such as "Still Life Talking" or "Letter From Home" etc., but also the direct father of "Secret Story", a suite recorded with unusual resources and time even for... Madonna or the Steely Dan! And still, it shows no weaknesses or defects typical of innovative projects in the initial stage. Also because at that time our musicians were already seasoned, had already recorded several albums with ECM with the PMG and digested enormous quantities of both solid jazz and wholesome Nordic-Central European rock, with clear symphonic references; all things that are abundantly reflected in the PMG’s work.

This is not music for everyone. And anyhow, it is music for all hearts thirsty for objective beauty and intelligent music. After listening to this album, you are compelled to consider the PMG. Without a doubt. Metheny & Mays are somewhat akin to the Taviani brothers or the great dreamers of cinema, like Bunuel, Fellini, Oliver Stone. Or Maurizio Cattelan and his immense courage as a globally loved or hated world artist. But with whom everyone, in the end, has to reckon because he sets a benchmark. The music that PMG produces is indeed in perfect balance between rock, jazz, Latin, and American or global folk tradition (see the Cambodian songs included in Secret Story!), but in fact constituting a new genre of unclassifiable beauty itself. In this work, we find first of all the initial twenty-minute track

1) “As falls Wichita so falls Wichita falls”. The piece starts with a theme presented by oriental-sounding instruments and “bell-like” percussion by Nanà, which will be repeated over time with a support bass line being present and clean. The journey begins and proceeds varied and hallucinatory yet very musical throughout its duration. The percussion plays a significant role, coloring this music which wouldn’t be incorrect to call ambient if this adjective hadn’t always been used in a somewhat derogatory sense. Similar Farfisa organ, rarefied music, and sudden orchestral crescendos bring to mind the best of Pink Floyd or “In a Gadda da Vida” by Iron Butterfly and their primitive Garden of Eden, with a dash of Ray Manzarek (Doors). Heavenly arrows run and eventually get lost as the underlying melody slowly changes. A masterpiece not to be missed. The synthesized sounds here fly and will continue to characterize the PMG sound for decades, despite the technology still needing refinement at the time. Pat also delivers fretless bass solos with remarkable results. To give an idea through images of the epic music found in this track, one could make a parallel with the dialogue-less scenes in 2001: A Space Odyssey, both the initial ones and those at the end of the movie.
2) “Ozark” is more in line with the rest of PMG's production. Medium-fast tempo and major chords with open guitars and a very simple rhythmic base recall American folk tradition. Acoustic instruments and the desire to dance. Already, all of Lyle Mays is in it. Entire fields of Mays, I would say!
3) “Sept 15” is a poignant piece, dedicated to Bill Evans and rendered with simplicity: acoustic guitar and organ speaking to your heart without any intermediary. At the end, an acoustic piano as only at three a.m. after everyone has gone to sleep.
4) “It’s for you” is a typical melodic PMG piece with just a hint of vocals that will be better developed in the next records. It listens very well, after halfway, to the Roland Guitar Synth that characterizes all PMG productions and Metheny's personal sound. Excellent guitar paired with a rather spartan synth, with various note-tracking issues; a beast handled with care and for this reason, used with great mastery by Pat, who extracts cosmic beauty phrases.
5) In “Estupenda graca” Nanà offers us a song that is subsequently integrated by guitar and “rustic” background noises. The influence of Milton Nascimento on the young people at the time of this recording is evident and this gem closes an album of short duration by current standards (just over forty minutes) but which cannot be absent from your heart.

A nice little thing I found on the internet: http://www.pagine70.com/vmnews/wmview.php?ArtID=508