Pat Metheny
American Garage

Once, I bravely dared to speak of the sound of the first PMG, defining it as "garage jazz." I was not trying to define an actual genre, but in an attempt to describe the raw and pure sound of the group's early albums, let's say between 1974 and a maximum of 1982, I found some enthusiasts of the genre agreeing with me. Therefore, I propose it again. A symbol of such roughness and imperfection of the sound is, in my view, precisely "American Garage." The album is from 1979, rustic and robust, cheerful and powerful and is the second of the Pat Metheny Group. For the record, with Metheny, Mays, Egan on bass, and Gottlieb on drums.

I just can't figure out what is so embarrassing about it. I write this precisely because Pat himself defines this work of his as full of errors, played and mixed indecently and at times overly pretentious. He also claims that the same material of the album can be a starting point, at the limit still valid to develop, but here presented in a crude and indecent form!!!

I find the album absolutely symbolic and captivating. I would start describing it from the end, with one of those pieces that literally make me vibrate. It is the immense "The Epic," a movement of thirteen lively and overwhelming minutes. So much so that the start of the track brings me back to an atmosphere of "triumphant entry," a kind of victory arch in a jazz version.

The CD opens with "(Cross the) Heartland." In the piece, quite engaging, there is a specific sonic exploration. Pat's guitar is definitely the protagonist, but there's also Mays's electric organ that gives a particular imprint to the sound. Very acoustic and evocative is "Airstream" with a good Mays, in classical style, highlighted. It's a deep and "clean" ballad.
"The Search" was a piece intended for a series of school documentaries, and if you listen carefully, it has something "scientific" about it. The oberheim played by Lyle is prominently featured. This sound will recur often in the future interventions of the keyboardist. Delightful.

"American Garage" has a bit of everything in it. It takes off with Beatles-style rock drumming, and its function is a bit to emphasize the importance of rock in the group's music. It's a very aggressive groove, at times it crosses over into blues, dynamic and full of rhythmic changes, and even has Brazilian-like interludes.

The five compositions were co-signed by both Pat and Lyle Mays, a signal of prolific and harmonious understanding between two excellent artists emerging with strong creativity and a desire to experiment with innovative sounds and instruments. Preambles of a fusion image of the group, which will gradually define and improve itself. The result, I insist, is more than credible, even though "the work" lasts slightly more than half an hour in total. The album's groove, at the time, was fresh and innovative, with a full-bodied and rough sound. From the garage.