Product Description

Migration is an album where Antonio Sanchez, one of today s most sought-after drummers, debuts as leader and calls on two contemporary jazz stars, Chick Corea and Pat Metheny, to participate. In fact, Sanchez has played in their groups for years. The album also features contributions by bassist Scott Colley, and saxmen Chris Potter and David Sanchez.
Migration is jazz at a highly energetic level, but at the same time rich with expressive overtones. The drummer shows real quality as a leader, guiding his band members along personal, multicoloured, trajectory sounds and to extract the very best from them. The heart of the album is represented by four tracks performed in quartet (Did You Get It?, Challenge Within, Greddy Silent and Inner Urge), where the two sax players, both on tenors, dominate the scene. In Sand, Pat Metheny s guitar is added to the base nucleus, in an arioso and lyrical composition that he wrote expressly for this recording. Ballade is reserved for trio with Potter, who proves himself a first-rate soloist even on soprano. Also performed
in trio is the opening track of the CD, One For Antonio, a homage to the drummer written by Chick Corea. The finale is instead entrusted to Sanchez and Metheny performing the famous notes of Solar by Miles Davis: the best way to conclude an album that from the beginning to the end doesn t show any slack in taste nor decrease in tension.

Track Listing

1. One For Antonio
2. Did You Get It?
3. Arena (Sand)
4. Challenge Within
5. Ballade
6. Greedy Silence
7. Inner Urge
8. Solar

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #37792 in Music
• Released on: 2007-08-28
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

Maybe too much sax
I have followed Pat Metheny and his bunch for a long time and my appreciation for them keeps growing. Antonio Sánchez might be the best "fusion" drummer I have heard (hard to say, for Weckl, Bruford and Peart, among a few others, are also superb). This record is great, especially Arena, penned by Metheny himself, with just about the pefect mix of vistuosity and feeling that creates great jazz (and music in general). My only complaint is that perhaps the two (great) sax players simply play too much, and thus create a bit of an assimetry that affects the overall balance.

They Sound Like A Band
I love this record!! I haven't stopped listening to it in 3 weeks.

The tunes are great, the playing is stellar and most importantly they sound like a band. There is a tangible spirit present on this record. This is a great debut as a leader.

The musicians sound like they are having fun. A lot of records with "all-star' bands can often sound like a recorded version of The New York Yankees...lot's of big bats that fall short when it counts (okay, that WAS a cheap shot at the Yankees...sorry!) But you get my point.

This record does NOT sound like an over priced "all-star" group! This record sounds like a BAND of musicians who thoroughly ENJOY making music with each other! We the listeners are the ones who benefit from their joy in making this record!

Highly recommended!

Rhythm to burn....
There's no doubting Sanchez' drumming abilities; his effortless changes of time signature, rhythm, synchopation & colour have been fully evident for some time (most notably on The Way Up tour). In his debut as leader he pays respect to his two most prominent past & present employers, Chick Corea & Pat Metheny who each contribute one track. Corea's "One for Antonio" leads off the set but strangely takes a while to give Sanchez room to shine. This said, it's a truly great tune & about as "complete" a classic jazz trio piece as you could hope for with loads of space given to each of piano, drums & bass (Scott Colley). Metheny's Arena (Sand) is similarly a great tune which invokes some great plaintive sax work from two of the current young tenor "lions" Chris Potter & David Sanchez as well as soulful solos from Pat himself. Much of the rest of the album (ex "Ballade" & a great Metheny/Sanchez duet on Miles' "Solar") is taken up with Sanchez supporting, coaxing & propelling the two tenor saxes in generally uptempo & occasionally fiery exchanges on the leader's own compositions (the latin-tinged "Challenge Within" being the pick). Whilst I can appeciate the writing, the artistry, the chemistry & the cohesiveness of these tracks they do become a little tedious for me personally so I can't in all honesty assign an overall 5* rating. However, despite my personal misgivings re these particular performances this album truly contains some great music firmly in the best jazz tradition(s), is a thoroughly worthwhile debut from probably the most exciting drummer on the planet & in that respect probably essential for all drum players & enthusiasts.