Pat Metheny
Day Trip

Eight years have passed since the last Trio. The marvelous work of 99/00 featured, of course beyond the Missouri guitarist, the brilliant Bill Stewart and the excellent Larry Grenadier. It was a work of the highest level, a mix of new compositions and jazz standards like "Giant Steps." A CD that perhaps represents one of the highest points of Metheny's production. Even before that, the trio of "Question And Answer" from 1990, another absolute work that enjoyed the revisitation of the standard "Solar." It's logical, or almost, to expect a product of great quality.

January 2008. This time Pat Metheny enters the scene with the incredible drummer Antonio Sanchez and the excellent Christian McBride (the two are very young). Having just finished the tour with Brad Mehldau, with whom he has worked on two albums of varying value, Metheny reintroduces the essential formula guitar-bass-drums (as Pat defines in "Old School" style) extremely effective and refined, which allows bringing great emphasis to the skills of the musicians involved.

The product is attractive right from the colorful cover. "Day Trip" is the title of the work, built on 10 tracks. The theme of the front refers to the colors of "Speaking Of Now" from 2002 and "The Way Up" from 2005, which featured the PMG. The philosophy, though with the trio, renews itself on urban themes and somehow retraces the sounds that were missing for some years.

Behind the colors of this refined project lies the talent of the ensemble intent on creating a pleasant and relaxing sound, a kind of easy groove, never aggressive. A reflective work that in some titles refers to current events "Is This America?" of an embarrassing sadness (a piece inspired by the disasters of Hurricane Katrina, which destroyed New Orleans). There is also another piece styled as a melancholic ballad: "Dreaming Trees."

There is room for revisitations (it has already happened in the trio 99/00 with "Lone Jack") of an old piece of decadent fusion "When We Were Free" which gains depth and personality compared to the 1996 version of the hysterical album "Quartet" and blends into the decidedly enjoyable whole with "The Red One" from 1994, slowed down, but always performed with the synth distorted in a rocky key, which refers back to the work with Scofield "I Can See Your House From Here."

Then there are surprises. The groove of "Day Trip", the piece that gives the album its title, is fresh, playful, captivating, brilliant, and enveloping. The rhythm engages and brings back old sonorities, but with the keen sensation of a refreshing rediscovery, on Pat's part, of the suitable interpretative key. Among the déjà vus of the previous trio and the aesthetic adjustments, this gem does not go unnoticed.

"Son Of Thirteen" opens the album caustically and slyly and does not spare on the flowing abilities of the artists. It already appears as a streamlined and positive path, essential, which will introduce the road of an album that meets expectations.

"At Last You're Here" is almost predictable in its melodic sweetness, as a piece that serves as a prelude to the dynamics of "Let's Move." In this sort of onomatopoeic title, the dictates of entertainment jazz "in trio" are rediscovered: rhythmic and feline, it hurls in performing trajectories, which only the work "99/00" reminds me of. Here is Pat "Old School," back to amaze with his masterful tricks flavored with freshness.

"Snova" is a graceful and skillful melody with interchangeable rhythms, which stands out with its particularities, while remaining true to the recognizable style of the old Pat.

"Calvin's Keys" is equally brilliant and the spaces crossed exude a scent of blues. In this central part, the album deserves an intense and attentive listen.

A CD to be disassembled and reassembled. An assembly born in recent years "on the road," which comes to life to tell and reveal itself.