Pat Metheny Group
Quartet

This curious album by PMG, "Quartet", was born in 1996, played by Pat Metheny, Lyle Mays on keyboards, Steve Rodby on bass, and Paul Wertico on percussion. It is an album necessary to conclude the contract with Geffen record label (before moving to Warner), rich in electronics, with jazz-acoustic roots and some good ideas here and there.

The work distances itself, albeit not intentionally, from the fusion genre, successfully treated since 1987, and up until now. There's an urgent need for renewal, an awareness to bring innovation to sound and melodies that had been missing for years. Insisting on that mood could have been detrimental. Already with the previous album, "We Live Here" from 1995, the sound had suffered from a lack of freshness, and some ideas seemed quite banal, after the excellent exploits of the golden period "Still Life Talking"-"Secret Story". The return to a more traditional jazz, in "Quartet" is however marred by the stagnation the group is experiencing after stressful tours and record label pressures, and by excessive experimentation. The tense atmosphere is a strong negative signal highlighting the lack of real creative need and the haste to turn the page. The richness of the product should not be misleading as it contains 15 tracks for a total duration exceeding an hour. The album seems spontaneous, noisy, and too much an end in itself. The skill of the members does not go unnoticed either for the multiplicity of instruments "in play" or for the desire and intent to return to a more acoustic sound. But it's not much. The album is not driven by any particular motivation and to structure it, the individual members locked themselves in different rooms to forcibly jot down some ideas to assemble together later. Even though there is material to which Pat and Lyle closely collaborate in writing, and three pieces are signed by the whole quartet, most of the "sketches" are created at the table in just a couple of days. However, the recording is excellent, the sound quality highlights Wertico's lively percussion groove.

There's nothing to complain about in the intro and the track "When We Were Free": an effective melody, convincing solo by Pat and a recognizable mood. Innovative and tinkling "Montevideo" highlights an ambitious and colorful sound. The piece is signed by the quartet and keeps the interest alive; this track seems like a step forward, and the South American tango-like influences, with continuous rhythmic changes, lead one to believe in a truly interesting and alternative musical journey. "Take Me There" is darker but flows well, and the melody follows paths of modern free jazz with energetic impact. The ballad with percussion emphasized "Seven Days", is intimate, unusual, and fascinating. "Oceania" is a relaxing journey that highlights Mays' piano.

An alternately, but fascinating result in "Dismantling Utopia": it's pure experimentation: variable, stormy, and obsessive, bearing the quartet's signature. "Double Blind" and "Glacier" are written by Mays and quite deviate from his usual sound: in short, even for the keyboardist there's a desire to experiment with a very spontaneous and contemporary sound. "Second Thought" and "Mojave" bear Metheny's signature alone. Unsettling and challenging. In "Badland", signed by the quartet, there's a dark oriental atmosphere, but the sound is very spatial and at times the journey is somewhat indecipherable. Lively and intense, signed by Metheny/Mays, is "Language of Time", although not unsurpassable except for an extraordinary and compelling bass line highlighted in an exciting solo by Rodby that closes the track. "Sometimes I See" is a common Pat-like ballad, without sound memorabilia ambitions, recognizable and not unforgettable, aligns with the overall modernism of the work. "As I Am" closes the album without jolts, Wertico's brushes are good. The drummer has never been so prominent as in this work.

The standards of the album are decidedly different from those heard in all the previous ones. There's an air of dismantling, although the declared common love for music and the perseverance of the PMG style represent an additional chapter in the history of contemporary jazz. These are the last thrusts of Methenian fusion, dragging itself wearily towards the collapse of "Imaginary Day". Pat's mind is elsewhere and he definitely needs to "catch his breath". His hyperactivity, too many overlapping projects have led to an inevitable decline in quality.