Pat Metheny
Secret Story

I am an accidental tourist, with my baggage of experiences, of things I know and don't know, of things I've seen, heard, tried, with my completely insignificant and useless objects yet so full of meaning for me, like my guitar, my CDs, like this Pat's CD... a world of its own, a journey, yet another journey of an accidental tourist, but no less fascinating, quite the opposite...

The first stop is Cambodia (above the treetops), with its mystical charm, belonging to a distant land, not only geographically...
a suggestive choir of voices (the Choir of the Cambodian Royal Palace) alternates with Metheny’s classical guitar, which enriches the piece with a very sweet and ethereal melody... a gem...
From one extreme to the other: the west (facing west). A joyful ride through the vast plains of a lush land, and the guitar leads us through endless landscapes.
Again the East (finding and believing), sometimes frenetic and full of colors (in the first part of the track), sometimes suave and mysterious (in the second part).
A journey is also made of a thousand sensations, those that a beautiful sunny day can give us (sunlight, where Lyle Mays' piano and Metheny's guitar come together to create a "bright" duet), the memory of a summer (the longest summer, where Pat unleashes all his harmonic-melodic richness) or of a dear person to us (Antonia) or the flow of a river on a rainy day (rain river), letting oneself be carried by the harmonious and unstoppable movement of its waters (rhythm, melody and every single element that contributes to building the harmony of this piece truly give that sensation... absolutely unmissable are the performances of Paul Wertico on drums and Pat in solo, one of the best tracks).
A memory can become indelible and when this happens, even time stands still (always and forever): this seems to be suggested by the musician in this piece with its slow and unaltered pace and "spiritual" melody.
See the world, in turn, is a curious, questioning look at the world: the bouncing stride and the decidedly dynamic solo with uneven rhythm seem to suggest this perception. An uncertain melody introduces as a flower blossoms, characterized by Pat's piano (who also skillfully maneuvers this keyboard) and Akiko Yano’s soft and whispering voice. Cathedral in a suitcase, on the other hand, is mysterious and vaguely baroque.
We thus reach the peak of this journey, the truth will always be: difficult to describe, cryptic in meaning, perhaps a tribute to the sad epic of Native Americans, the tribal instruments that pervade the entire piece would seem to suggest it. All you need to do is close your eyes and let yourself be carried away by a melody of rare beauty... the initial rhythm almost like a march that in the finale turns into a sustained mid-tempo is of great impact, absolutely brilliant is the arrangement of the strings that give the track an epic air, and Pat’s solo is breathtaking, in my opinion one of the most beautiful in music history, of unmatched lyricism (perhaps only Gilmour in comfortably numb and Gary Moore in the loner come close).
Delicate and poignant is the next track, Tell her you saw me, another of the peaks of this album, with strings creating a passionate atmosphere and a guitar with a soft and muffled sound enhancing everything with a very sweet melodic line.
The end of this journey, Not to be forgotten, is a classic arrangement by Metheny with a solemn breath, performed exclusively by the London Orchestra. Ethnic sounds and colors, reminiscent of world music, of a music without boundaries, free and inspired.

Accompanying Pat Metheny in this adventure are, among others, Charlie Haden, Steve Rodby, Lyle Mays, Nana Vasconcelos, and the London Orchestra.
Enjoy your journey.

N.B.: some interpretations of the thoughts and atmospheres created by Pat are absolutely personal, others are closely linked to what the musician himself has declared.
A curiosity: the track Sunlight was used for the advertisement of a well-known brand of breakfast biscuits... no comment.