Track Listing

1. A Night Away
2. The Sound of Water
3. Fear and Trembling
4. Don't Wait
5. Towards the Light
6. Long Before
7. En La Tierra Que No Olvida
8. Santa Cruz Slacker
9. Secret Beach
10. Silent Movie
11. Marta's Theme (from "Passagio per il Paradiso")

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5654 in Music
• Released on: 2007-03-13
• Number of discs: 1

Album Description
Quartet expands upon the "dream pairing" - begun by guitarist Pat Metheny and pianist Brad Mehldau on their 2006 Nonesuch collaboration, Metheny/Mehldau. This time they incorporate the members of Mehldau's trio, bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jeff Ballard, into a breathtakingly eclectic set, which ranges from the airy, pastoral "Don't Wait" to straight-up rocking in the slowly building "Towards the Light." Last year, London's Evening Standard described Metheny and Mehldau as "graceful, lyrical improvisers...It's a duo performance that deserves to tour." Now the pair is indeed hitting the road, along with Mehldau's two band-mates, in March for a month of shows throughout North America in support of Quartet. The 11 tracks that comprise Quartet were cut during the week-length December 2005 session at Manhattan's Right Track that yielded Metheny /Mehldau, a recording date that, over time, will surely be considered a landmark in contemporary jazz. On Quartet, each artist contributes original solo compositions as well as their first co-written piece, "A Night Away." The group also reworks Mehldau's "Fear and Trembling," which originally appeared on House On Hill, Mehldau's final outing with his previous trio lineup. It also interprets Metheny's "Marta's Theme," from his score to the 1998 Italian film, A Passage to Paradise. Quartet is perhaps even more adventurous and just as rewarding as their first release; the exhilarating back and forth between Metheny and Mehldau continues with their eagerly awaited live dates.

Amazon.com
New Age-leaning guitarist Pat Metheny and melancholic pianist Brad Mehldau have such distinctive, even rarified, sensibilities (each an acquired taste for some listeners), that their teaming may have looked like a one-time commercial ploy in the beginning. But having found rewarding common ground and a receptive audience through their shared love of pop, Brazilian music and Americana, they likely will work together again. Recorded at the same time as their first album, a duo effort, Quartet takes a satisfying step forward in featuring the Mehldau trio's first-rate bass and drum team, Larry Grenadier and Jeff Ballard, on most of the tracks. Ranging from rhapsodic reflections to full-tilt fusion fare to loping, Wes Montgomery-inspired tunes--and let's not overlook that Asian-tinged song featuring Metheny on 42-string guitar--the music is sometimes a bit soft at the core. But when the stars are aligned, as on the effortlessly flowing, co-written opener, "A Night Away," and Metheny's charming "En La Tierra Que No Olvida," their partnership glows. It will be interesting to hear where they go from here. --Lloyd Sachs

Customer Reviews

Very satisfying
A continuation of the earlier historic meeting of these two seminal jazz artists, the eponymous Metheny/Mehldau disc which was released exactly six months earlier, Quartet reverses the proceedings, featuring mainly quartet numbers (Metheny, electric, acoustic, 42-string, and guitar synth; Mehldau, piano; Larry Grenadier, bass; and Jeff Ballard, drums, the last two the rhythm section of Mehldau's regular trio) and a few Metheny/Mehldau duos.

After repeated listenings, I'm convinced this disc displays all the earmarks of a classic--great songs, spectacular playing by the leaders, magical group interaction; and it's brilliantly recorded as well, with stunning clarity and imaging. The mercurial Metheny displays his full arsenal: lovely romantic acoustic musings on "Don't Wait"; the mysterioso/Celtic-sounding 42-string guitar on "The Sound of Water"; if not exactly guitar heroics, some serious e-guitar shredding on "Fear and Trembling"; the trademark synth guitar, going all the way back to at least Offramp, lighting up the anthemic "Towards the Light" and more gently gracing the balladic, samba-ish "Secret Beach". The highlight for me is the friendly/forbidding "En la Tierra Que no Olvida" (roughly translated, I believe, as "In the Land Where no One Lives"--nicely evoking the Scottish Highlands of the sleeve cover, or, perhaps some Scandinavian wastes, or even Patagonia, given the Latinate vibe) which lilts and gambols with measured frenzy, casually evoking "Are You Going with Me" and also exhibiting Mehldau's sly brilliance with Latin material.

Throughout, Mehldau displays his huge chops lightly worn, always finding the exact chordal voicings on his splendid comping, and soloing with a controlled abandon. But it's their dual lead approach, best demonstrated on "Santa Cruz Slacker," a loping bloozy number, that fully reveals these two players' genius, whether they're doubling a tricky melodic or rhythmic passage, or spinning out back-to-back solo statements, or simultaneously improvising, as they do near the end of the piece. This number also most fully displays Jeff Ballard's unique drum approach--hugely coloristic without too much busyness.

This disc, although perhaps not as wildly expressive of some of the more innovative contemporary jazz (one thinks, e.g., of Our Theory, Triosk, and The Claudia Quintet), nevertheless moves across the borders of classic and modern jazz with the ease and conviction one expects from two of this music's greatest masters. Very highly recommended.

AN EXTREMELY STRONG FOLLOW UP
From the opening drum kick this is a significantlty more dynamic and impressive recording than the first collaboration, and that was a lovely pastoral recollection of the joys of Bill Evans and Jim Hall. For this one, Mehldau's full band jumps in and they rock harder throughout this disc than any of Metheny's stripped down Group ensembles. That's a very good thing for Metheny. Anything that opens him up beyond the closed ranks of Rodby and Mays pays significant dividends to his outlook. For Mehldau, to work with a protean guitarist like Metheny gives him an edge that sometimes lies subsurface in his own recordings.
This is more akin to what you might here from the Scandinavians, most specifically the irrepressible EST. Thus, you'll find that as terrifically as this is recorded, the music flies and rocks and pushes all the principles in more adventuresome dynamics than are standard fare for them. Without question, this is a stand out disc in Metheny's impressive body of work and should be on any jazz devotee's i-pod, cd spinner, whatever. This is a keeper. Small wonders abound as well. The usual geeky use of the 42-string harp guitar, which most times is a tech-head diversion of little significant contribution, is here put to great employ in the service of the cuts on which it appears. There may be a point to all that after all.
I am still waiting for Metheny to get on the download bandwagon, as Live he is a different beast altogether. And last year's Quartet with the Sanchez's and Christian McBride in Wilmington was possibly the best concert of his I have ever seen, warts and all. Who knows maybe he'd even more time to stay home? Anyway, we'll dream on and celebrate this effort. 5 stars and superb all the way.

Even better than the first one!
These two guys are very clever. Putting their incredible musical capabilities to one side for a minute, they are obviously good businessmen as well. It would seem to me that while the first set of songs they put out last year on the Metheny / Mehldau CD were pretty good, they definitely saved the best till last. I'm guessing it's also going to work out better for them to have the two sets on separate albums when it seems they could've easily put everything out on a double CD last year.

Not that I'm complaining. Good music is always worth paying a little extra for in my humble view and there is good music aplenty on this CD. There are more songs in the quartet format here than in the last one, hence the title I suppose, and Larry Grenadier and Jeff Ballard more than step up to the plate. While Mehldau sticks to playing piano, Metheny gives us 42-string guitar, acoustic guitar and guitar synth (which works better on this CD than on the last one, I would say).

Each song says something different to me and touches me in different ways. I have no favourites. This is a solid set of 11 modern jazz songs. Metheny writes 7 of them, Mehldau writes 3 and one of the songs is co-written by them both. The more I play it, the more I love it.