Pat Metheny Group
The Way Up

There is a pulse, a fil rouge that runs along the spine of this work; it periodically pulsates so that the vibration, the vitality, its exuberance can always be felt. It is a very long composition, 68 minutes divided into four movements, each of which is further divided into short or long episodes. Put this way, it might seem like a fragmented work, but in reality, it is the exact opposite. Following a period of relative dimming of the "group," ("Imaginary Day" is from '97 and is an album hindered by poorly executed modernist desires) soundtracks for films never seen in Italy, and the usual multiple collaborations outside the group, the Missouri guitarist, after the already stimulating "Speaking Of Now" in 2002, undoubtedly delivers one of the masterpieces of his decades-long career.

It is a fresh, new, stimulating, and subtle way to express oneself concerning the new directions of contemporary jazz and the contaminations it is imbued with. The change of some musicians within the group has greatly benefited the necessary rejuvenation of the sound. The trumpet of the engraver Cuong Vu and the drums of Antonio Sanchez leave no doubt. And then there's the "core" of the group; Steve Rodby more solid than ever, with a great sense of orchestration and the irreplaceable taste of Lyle Mays, this time with fewer synths and more pianos. Gregoire Maret, on harmonica, is one of the usual "Metheny discoveries." We hope to hear more about him. "The Way Up" is a work that still illuminates from above with its radiant tendency towards positive and liberating tension; The work contains small gems with great insights. Metheny once again manages to fascinate and even hypnotize with his already known harmonic "turns"; the rhythmic-harmonic progressions reveal an approach to the matter that at the end of the '90s was either nonexistent or dispersive. For a moment, perhaps, Pat Metheny has found a promising main or "superior" road against (as he declared) the stupidity and excessive lightness of things. Go on, Pat.