Pat Metheny Group
The Way Up

After the 2002 release of Speaking of Now, the glorious Pat Metheny Group, a cornerstone of the "electric" current of jazz and a winner of 13 Grammys, comes out with another work called "Way Up". The album consists of 4 tracks without any breaks between them, averaging 20 minutes each. Throughout the album, you can hear and feel the characteristics that made this group famous: well-crafted dynamics, fresh and never banal melodies, complex and studied harmonies, a particular taste for minimalism, and improvisation. The opening begins with an expressly minimalist rhythmic base and continues with chords played in unison by the entire band over a contrapuntal background of piano and guitar with the usual beautiful changes in atmosphere that in this piece are numerous thanks to the combination of predictable harmonies with more dissonant and unexpected solutions. Note the final part enriched with very sweet and relaxing arpeggios and the intelligent use of both harmonic and dynamic crescendos. Immediately after, linked to the opening with a slowdown, the first part begins with a keyboard canvas over which the development of the main theme of the entire album unfolds, which will be revisited by Metheny and modified during the solos and the more tension-filled parts. This first part features a long session of electric jazz with suggestive bursts and the already well-known sound games of the group. The first part ends with the usual crescendo this time performed by the whole band and a series of intelligent rolls by the new group member, the young and very talented drummer Antonio Sanchez. The second part presents itself with an arpeggiated chord progression overlaid by a melody on the electric bass played intelligently with the vibrato technique by the great Steve Rodby, combined with very slow slides and a very reflective sound. After the introduction with guitar and bass, there are suggestions typical of the group's latest productions with a minimalist and psychedelic taste produced with filtered trumpet and harmonica sounds. After a more intimate and slowed part, the solo piano enters, performing the harmonic base for what will be yet another dazzling, suggestive synth solo by Metheny, which dialogues with the trumpet to underline his passion for this instrument, whose sound he has uniquely synthesized. Towards the end of the piece, the electronic component of the group enters with a phrase repeated in a loop followed by a percussion rhythm and trumpet and harmonica parts that give the whole a very exotic sound that might remind one of Buddha Bar productions. The piece concludes with double bass phrases played with the bow combined with various suggestions and fading that make the atmosphere very hypnotic. The third and final part of this work begins with piano notes played in the lower register, gradually joined by the rest of the instruments that serve as a backdrop to Metheny's long solo, which, in a very exciting crescendo, is joined by ethnic voices using the falsetto technique. The piece continues with the reprise of the main theme performed by the acoustic guitar with continuous crescendos and slowdowns. After a few seconds of various rustlings reminiscent of nature sounds, a brief section with ambient finishes enters, calmly and peacefully concluding the entire album with a slow fade-out, leaving a bit of nostalgia in the listener.