Track Listing

1. Have You Heard
2. Every Summer Night
3. Better Days Ahead
4. Spring Ain't Here
5. 45/8
6. 5-5-7
7. Beat 70
8. Dream of the Return
9. Are We There Yet
10. Vidala
11. Slip Away
12. Letter from Home

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #141255 in Music
• Released on: 1989-06-19
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com
A jazz-fusion classic from Pat Metheny's mid-30s, steeped in joy and sensuality. The guitarist's singing, soaring, shimmering sound is tinged with yearning, occasionally sadness--that's a crucial, overlooked aspect of his musical voice. The talented lineup flies assuredly with the brilliant leader, who mans several varieties of acoustic, electric, and synthesized guitars. The electronics of keyboardist Lyle Mays, straight from American front parlors and chapels, brings just the right amount of twist to Metheny's lacings of folk and rock. More shadings and fire come from Mays's accordion and trumpet, and the versatile Pedro Aznar's vocals, marimba, vibes, charango, melodica, and percussion. All but two tracks are by Metheny. His ability to write complex but accessible tunes is undeniable, and his arrangements are inspired. --Peter Monaghan

Customer Reviews

i write this review 14 years after i first listened to this
i sincerely believe what i write below is honest and truthful.

i first heard this CD 14 years ago. loved it then and actually went to see him performed live with his band. in the last 14 years, my music taste changed from classical jazz to pop rock, to latin rock, to brasilian pagode, to samba, to bossa nova, back to american frank sinatra, to tony bennette, back to big band jazz of Duke and Count.... however, yesterday as i accidentally picked this music from my old collection, the music still sounds so fresh and new. it is just amazing that after all my other musical experiences, Metheny's music still stands its quality and depth. there are so many Pat's CDs i could recommend however, this one may be the most balance, most easy listened to and most versatile. you hardly know it was recorded 14 years ago... wow! i feel old.....nonetheless, this is truly great music. high art form i would say.

classic PMG
This album continued Pat's flirtation with the musical flavors of Brazil, and it is readily accessible to a variety of listeners (those who liked "First Circle" and "Still Life" should also like this album). I remember hearing the poppish "Slip Away" on a local radio station and I knew this was an album to add to my collection of PMG material.

While the album claerly has a strong undercurrent of Brazilian rhythms and percussive accents, the songs do have character on their own. Pat, as usual, is in top form. His silky-smooth guitar emits improvisations so melodic that you'll find yourself whistling them in the shower. Multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Pedro Aznar adds to the melodic flavor, and even sings a beautiful Spanish lead on "Dream of the Return" (check out the PMG website for lyrics and translation). Lyle Mays contributes a quirky (but eerily groovy) composition called "Are We There Yet?", which, if you listen carefully towards the end, cleverly incorporates sampled vocals from Aznar's lead vocal from "Dream".

Other highlights include "Better Days Ahead" (a percussion-laden tune with Pat on acoustic guitar) and the delicately short lullaby and title track, "Letter From Home". My only gripe is that Pat and Lyle seem to have run out of song titles for a couple of songs, as they simply named one spritely-sounding tune "5-5-7" for the number of beats per three measure sequence.

This album will stand the test of time, and you will enjoy listening to it ten years from now as much as you did the first time.

The Mid-Period Metheny Masterpiece
This is the classic, summer jazz that Pat is known around the world for. By this stage (1989), he was well settled into his new label (Geffen) and the Power Station studio. Geffen brought out the optimism in Metheny's music. (If he'd stuck with his previous label, the immaculately germanic ECM label, the album would have had a dreary monochrome cover and probably been called 'Telegram Bearing Seriously Grave Domestic News'.)

This was the last studio album which stuck to the formula established with 'First Circle': nothing too aggressive, delight all the way, plenty to attract intelligent rock fans, encased in attractive Latin rhythms.

The album kicks off the wonderful ensemble piece, 'Have You Heard'. This piece seems to be the favourite Metheny tune covered by brass bands. It's been covered by European youth orchestras, it's been covered by the Bob Curnow LA Big Band. It transposes to these instruments really well.

Pedro Aznar was back for this album, bringing his own gorgeous vocals to the 100% classic 'Slip Away'. Why was this never released as a single??

This is an excellent place to start in the Metheny portfolio -- a mid-term high spot in the career of the most important popular composer in the last quarter of the 20th century. Buy this, and then if you play piano or guitar, buy the extraordinarily-good-value Pat Metheny Songbook, which has nearly all these tunes in.