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Just before "First Circle" by Pat Metheny Group, in 1982 Pat, who has always maintained his parallel and coherent, albeit risky, jazz integrity, went into the studio with Billy Higgins and Charlie Haden for a trio album with a unique flavor.
Unlike most "jazz guitar trio" works, which begin with certain balances and precise "timbral" choices and end the same way, even if the climates and times of the chosen repertoire vary, this album is characterized by the willingness to delve into the specific jazz tradition, following the path left by Ornette Coleman (of whom Pat Metheny has always been a huge fan and with whom, coincidentally, the two rhythms H & H have often played steadily) but with instrumentation choices and consequent significant timbral changes with great courage.
The first track "Lonely woman" (by Horace Silver, found in his "Song for my father" purchase it without hesitation!) is recorded with an acoustic guitar and is perhaps, I wouldn't want to overstate but I truly believe, the best version available on record. It must simply be “savored” in its long exposition to fully appreciate the emotional and technical content. Higgins' light and consistent "ride" cymbal fills the air while Haden's double bass provides the necessary and measured intimate counterpoint to Pat. The album is worth buying just for this single track if nothing else. "Tears inside" (Ornette Coleman) is based on a more typical blues structure, and Pat Metheny's Gibson 175 returns to more conventional work, although it concludes in a perhaps excessively somber tone. But it is one of the choices that deliberately stand out from more ordinary jazz productions. "Humpty Dumpty" (Ornette Coleman) features a series of intricate passages that raise the bar for the evolved guitarist by several centimeters. "Blues for Pat" (Charlie Haden) is a simple and appropriate breath of fresh and pure oxygen, to polish the ear-lung ducts of any old jazz-addicted animal. Over time, perhaps unintentionally, it has also become, thanks to its simple catchiness, a standard often played around (also recommended is "Wish" by Joshua Redman, always with Pat and Charlie) representing Charlie's tribute to a generous and wandering old fellow "Missourian."
"Rejoicing" is the third piece by Ornette Coleman included in the album and begins with a dangerous and rapid ride between drums and guitar, always closed in tone but powerful. A great and challenging test stand, from both a technical and compositional point of view. Music from twenty-five years ago, music for the next twenty-five years. No compromise. "Story from a stranger" (Pat Metheny) brings us back to decidedly relaxing and acoustic atmospheres, with overdubs and moods halfway between new age, some Spanish influences of the quieter Davis, and "A map of the world" soundtrack composed by Pat for the film of the same name and an unfairly overlooked chapter of our discography. "The calling" (P.M.) opens with synthesized sounds exactly halfway between some bagpipes and a pile-up on the Grande Raccordo Anulare (listen to believe!). It continues for a good ten minutes with a free development whose meaning and primary objective frankly elude me. Original and oblique timbres; beautiful. However, used for a piece that may be too abstract and indecipherable to most, myself included: receiving something like this from someone you least expect. As for Pat... we were ready nonetheless! No harm: the album is still beautiful, and we can easily tolerate this somewhat interlocutory episode in a sequence of appetizing and original tracks. Fast forward to "Waiting for an answer" (P.M.), the final short track with a slow development and an early-evening flavor, calm and through the facts of your life. Reflective and oblique.
"Rejoicing" is an album substantially developed within the full tradition of both ECM and Metheny: it doesn’t betray the expectations of either; in fact, it will surprise those accustomed to more comfortable paths and represents a link between the classic jazz guitar trio, experimentation, and broader instrumental-musical scenarios. Great testament to Pat's omnivorous and intelligent personality.
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