#Best Of Pat Metheny How To Approach Them#

Bucky Pizzarelli was a legendary guitarist himself, and JohnвЂ™s new solo guitar recordвЂ”the first of his careerвЂ”is both a reflection of his father and something wholly new, as it is a set of interpretations of the music of yet another guitar giant, Pat Metheny. Guitarist and singer John Pizzarelli turned 61 recently, one year to the week after he lost both of his parents to COVID-19. The disc features such notables as Bobby Shew, Buddy Childers and Bob Sheppard, and a. Bob Curnow was the producer and arranger of Stan Kentons acclaimed crossover success, Stan Kenton Plays Chicago. An amazingly successful translation of the inimitable compositions of the Pat Metheny Group into the idiom of big band jazz.

Here's a look back at some of the finest Pat Metheny Group albums.вЂњIвЂ™ve always loved Metheny. In a fascinating interview the guitarist opens up about his new album, From This Place. Pat Metheny is the cover star of the February 2020 issue of Jazzwise magazine. Wednesday, January 29, 2020. His best-known composition, the ballad Misty, has become a jazz standard.The Pat Metheny Group: Essential Recordings.

Best Of Pat Metheny How To Approach Them

Still Life (Talking) 05:38.As Pizzarelli was learning each of the 13 Metheny tunes on Better Days Ahead, he says that he could hear the voice of his dad in his head, informing how to approach them. 30 SONGS 3 HOURS AND 5 MINUTES. Great moments from the prolific guitarist, composer, and bandleader Pat Metheny. Curated by Amazons Music Experts. We were learning the tune together вЂLone JackвЂ™, and Bucky would say, oh, I like that melodic figure in there, letвЂ™s learn that.вЂќBest of Pat Metheny.

The show is warm and funny, with John playing a repertoire of what seems like thousands of old classics. These performances (dubbed вЂњItвЂ™s Five OвЂ™Clock SomewhereвЂќ) have turned into a wonderful hour of connection each week, with Pizzarelli collecting requests from hundreds of weekly fans from PizzarelliвЂ™s old neighborhood in Northern New Jersey as well as Brazil, Europe, Asia, and beyond.John appears alone for most of the show, but his wife and singer Jessica Molaskey provides conversation (and occasional harmony vocals) off-camera until she comes onto the couch for one lead vocal toward the end. Pizzarelli recorded each track in the house where he has spent the pandemic, not touring or working other than playing a weekly solo show from the wicker couch in his country barn, streamed on social media each Thursday evening. I could hear the adviceвЂ”why are you rushing through that?В You have a beautiful melody to play.'вЂќAnd the melodiesвЂ”like the performances tooвЂ”are, indeed, gorgeous.

The result is true to both Metheny and Pizzarelli, which was not a simple trick. From there, he collaborated with his friend, producer, and guitarist Rick Haydon to turn his tracks into a proper release. Then, he recorded each directly into his iPad on his seven-string classical guitar. The connection and distance are both palpable.With the phone not ringing for live gigs, Pizzarelli could spend whole days working out these Metheny tunes, a kind of grief therapy, channeling the memory of his dad, particularly.

And, of course, he worked similarly with Paul McCartney when he recorded a standards album, as well as Ricki Lee Jones before that.Popmatters interviewed Pizzarelli about the new recording and his incredible, terrible year. Their collaboration earned Pizzarelli his first Grammy award this year as a co-producer on American Standard in the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album category. One night while he was eating dinner, he got a text from James Taylor, who wasted assistance in making an album of standards. The result is a combination of the warm modern guitar vibe of Pat Metheny and the thrilling updating of swing guitar that is PizzarelliвЂ™s core.Metheny isnвЂ™t the only legendary guitarist Pizzarelli has engaged with in recent years. With his signature seven-string guitar, Pizzarelli handles melody, rhythm, and harmony all at once, simplifying the Metheny Group arrangements in some ways but also demonstrating how a guitar is a capable one-man orchestra, and not just another axe on which to play thrilling single-note lines. Of course, Pizzarelli had to figure out how to do all of that on his own in single-take, non-overdubbed performances.On the other hand, the pure pre-bop guitar sound of which Pizzarelli is the modern master is vital to Brighter Days Ahead.

It was going to cover this era of tunes but still be and sound like a James Taylor record. The best part was that he had an idea that was great for the album. Tell us how you got the gig producing American Standard and what it was like being the guy who had to tell James Taylor about properly voicing his chords on Tin Pan Alley material.That wasnвЂ™t so hard. I know you are a big James Taylor fan and surely grew up listening to that white-covered Greatest Hits double LP.

It was about a six-hour process for each tune, the morning in the kitchen, and then four hours in the studio. IвЂ™d be playing my seven-string classical, working out ideas with James Taylor. We would go in his barn, and weвЂ™d start the day messing around with one tune in the kitchen. It started as just me and him in his barn, alone together doing the tracks, putting the foundation down. He said, вЂњI want to do a standards record and you da man.Together, we put the execution together.

If anyone wants to get that sound, they know that you are the guy. IвЂ™m tempted to call you the Daniel Lanois of swing-style guitar. But he mostly avoided adding a piano, so the feeling of the sessions was really set up by our session in the barn.For a guy who is not вЂњfamousвЂќ in the pop culture sense, you have now worked with Frank Sinatra, Paul McCartney, and James Taylor. He brought in Steve Gadd to play drums. He enjoyed what we had working together.After that, James added bass and some other instruments down in Nashville.

It has been pretty fun.Especially with James. Back then, IвЂ™d be listening to вЂњTakinвЂ™ It to the StreetsвЂќ, figuring out the chords and voicings. These moments where I get to play with the very people I did my ear training with in college. About two years ago, I played at the Carlyle in New York with Michael McDonald.