CJ Shearn

while listening to Whisper Not, Always Let Me Go and Inside Out in my dorm, I've noticed that the sound quality and dynamic range seem to be more expansive than most other CD's I have. when a part is loud it sounds loud as in uncompressed, ditto for soft playing. Are ECM CD's recorded with less compression? I seem to remember hearing something similar on the Pat Metheny Group site in the forums in regard to those recordings on CD.

ok maybe I will repost this topic in Audio talk.

have some work to do so I'll listen to the set more around the last 3 of 4 days it's AotW, but here are some thoughts so far on the music from listening to the set initially a few weeks ago. Bennie Maupin is one of the things that makes this set, his solos are consistently interesting and take the music into very risky, free territory, he is also an excellent composer as "Peyote", "Something Like This" and "Nommo" demonstrate. Jack DeJohnette's inclinations towards free playing take Bennie's solo on "Speedball" and the tune itself to new places Jack's ability to play around with the time, and other things make it a great performance. Also on this set, even though the music sounds in a different direction than most of what was going on in the 70's, tunes like "The Beehive" almost predate to me the kind of things young lions would do in the 80's. The music is also under the influence of Miles' 60's quintet, especially how the soloists (Maupin on "Absolutions") relate back the melody of the tunes in their solos. Also, the latin tunes on the set seem to be a hint that Lee may have wanted to pursue that direction had he lived.

while listening to Whisper Not, Always Let Me Go and Inside Out in my dorm, I've noticed that the sound quality and dynamic range seem to be more expansive than most other CD's I have. when a part is loud it sounds loud as in uncompressed, ditto for soft playing. Are ECM CD's recorded with less compression? I seem to remember hearing something similar on the Pat Metheny Group site in the forums in regard to those recordings on CD.

Since we discussed it in another thread, I nominate Joe G. and the PMG's "Speaking of Now" as the album for next week.

Lee Morgan - Live at the Lighthouse (click to buy) start listening ahead if you'd like.

thanks GD. I already ordered "Always Let Me Go", that thing they got into on "Inside Out" was fascinating to me. Any news on whether "Up For It" is a double album or single disc?

I might go ahead and order Always Let Me Go sometime during the week. I'm intrigued by another chapter in their recent exploration of free improvisation. Thanks for the suggestions though as always more are welcome.

thanks Green Dolphin, I borrowed Whisper Not from my TA and it's a great disc, would like to get my own copy very soon and might as well do that. I wonder about that "Riot" too. Kinda odd the full thing isn't there. Ditto "341 Free Fade".

well, for my first KJ purchase I was daring and bought "Inside Out", I love it. Been contemplating between "Always Let Me Go" which continues the free improv in the trio vein, and getting my own copy of "Whisper Not"? give me some suggestions folks.

http://www.wbjazz.com/showpage.asp?code=onequietnight here is "Song For the Boys" a track off of "One Quiet Night". nice tune, lots of strumming. like a lot of Pat tunes, I hear melodic/harmonic connections to other songs and am trying to figure out which.

Simon, I must respectfully disagree with you about WLH. There is some amazing music there once you get into the layers. Then again I am into stuff with drumloops and techno ish type stuff. "Red Sky" is an awesome tune with it's 6/4 tempo and 4/4 on the bridge, it's primarily a Lyle Mays tune but Pat's synth solo is hot as are the atmospherics. ID is great as well, it has to almost be looked at from a composition/soundscape/trip factor view as Pat has said it's "music for a world that doesn't exist". Africa Brass how you like Travels? I got my first batch of Metheny real cheap on ECM vinyl too. I almost thought I lost my Travels double CD but thankfully I left it at my house over the break and brought it back to my dorm.

no actually it was Mingus X5..... I haven't really heard Black Saint and the Sinner Lady all that much.

I used to have this one. Didn't make sense to me for the longest time. What I remember now is great playing and some very jerky splices which were very noticeable on the 20 bit version from a few years ago.

yeah.... great tour. "The Gathering Sky" was something else. Antonio Sanchez is a freak of nature. Hearing "Are You Going With Me?" live was like an orgasm. It's my favorite PMG tune. I sincerely hope that live Speaking of Now DVD gets released soon.

ditto on the songbook. Even though I can't read music when I saw some of the tunes the amount of chords and meter changes it was incredible. Also Imaginary Day Live is available on DVD... great "The Roots of Coincedence" there, but hearing that tune live on the past tour was a blast. Antonio added a bit more "real" D&B flavor to it.

Joe G. if you have holes in your PMG collection. I suggest these few albums from their transitional period: e.g. post Brazillian. I think their next album which they are rumored to be in the studio for they will strike a groove that will signal the third distinct PMG era. We Live Here: a lot of people have mixed feelings about this one. Actually, this is the record that made me sit and listen 5 years ago when I was an 17 year old hard bop snob. It permanently opened my horizons. The slick veneer the record has shouldn't scare you off, theres a lot of strong stuff. including "And Then I Knew" which has a gorgeous Pat solo over a lush bed of Synclav orchestrations with interesting sounding changes. "The Girls Next Door" is a funk tune (I call it a porno funk tune. just listen to the rhythm) that has Pat getting really dirty, I love his ultra dry tone on this one with just a hint of delay. The guitar sounds like it was recorded in the bathroom. "To the End of the World" is one of the best tunes on the album and one of the PMG's best period. It's a reworking of "Are You Going With Me?" featuring a great piano solo from Mays and an awesome GR300 solo from Pat.... his entry is classic. Even better is the "We Live Here Live in Japan" DVD which has a good cross section of classic material and a few surprises like "Antonia" and "This is Not America" Quartet: just Pat, Lyle, Steve and Paul playing music mostly improvised on the spot. A very loosely produced recording, you can actually hear Paul's drums too Includes lots of wacked out fucked free stuff like "Dismantling Utopia", which in the opening section has Lyle Mays playing clavinet in the most sideways way, Herbie is the furthest thing from your mind. "When We Were Free" is a greasy blues in 3/4, hearing Pat and Lyle get real nasty on this one is a treat. Imaginary Day: continues some ideas found on Quartet but is their most far reaching album to date with everything from Chinese opera, blues- rock, techno, thrash metal, middle eastern and Celtic. A lot of fans have difficulty with this one, but not me, it's a great record, almost like the PMG doing prog-rock... every cut flows into the other and is pretty unified as a whole. As from Letter From Home, I have it on right now. It has some great tunes like "Have You Heard", "5-5-7" "Dream of the Return" and "Slip Away" but in some ways, it's the weakest of the Brazillian trilogy. The reason is this: First Circle was the one that fully brought in the element into their music, Still Life (Talking) refined it, and both these records are great from start to finish with engaging compositions. I think LFH got away from really being something from start to finish that just sucks you in. I think this has to do with the sequencing of the record more than the tunes themselves. The second half with "Are We There Yet" and "Vidala" turn it into something really intriguing by the end. the first half has some of these great but almost really sappy melodies, then the 180 into free, soundscape territory makes one get totally into the record again, if the sheen began to turn them off at the start of the record.

I preordered One Quiet Night. The preview track "Ferry Across The Mersey" was beautiful. I like most anything Pat puts out. As for Speaking of Now, wonderful album, the melodeies harken back to the accessibility of the Brazillian trilogy, but elements totally new such as Richard Bona, the trumpet playing and Antonio Sanchez. As for the Synclavier, the PMG don't use it anymore. They may have older sequences backed up in a new program, or have the Synclavier sound library stored somewhere. Lyle Mays uses a Korg Triton now which may be the source of his famous thick Oberheim patch which reappeared on SoN. Lyle programs all of his own sounds.

Lee Morgan Live at the Lighthouse

Ed, could you scan and post that here?

thanks for the link. Will check out the FS set at somepoint. love the BN set tho of which could become AOW soon.

hmm. so Bob Belden's "research" via Bennie Maupin was not correct? is the Fresh Sound material currently in print?

cool Bev. When funds allow I just may go with the Blue Note box. although it's probably too much to digest in one sitting, I have a habit of listening to a set in one shot and critically listening at the same time rather than passive. On my small set up in my dorm (as opposed to my nice Technics speakers at home) with small satellite speakers, I was struck at how amazing Whisper Not sounds, even on an average set up, it's CD sound done right. Gary Peacock sounds as if he's right in the room and Jack's Sabian ride has a real depth, real presence, nice stick tone, and deep rich warm ring like an old K. Amazing. The version of Poinciana is nothing short of stunning, Keith plays with the most inventive cliche free ideas. No wonder why he is Lyle Mays' favorite pianist. Would the DVD's out be recommended as well?

so far today: Lee Morgan live at the Lighthouse: disc 1 Keith Jarrett: Whisper Not: disc 1

I am currently borrowing "Whisper Not" from my TA in my jazz class and absolutely loving it (have disc 1 on right now) I certainly plan to buy it in the near future. Now, what are some other KJ standards trio albums to pick up for a neophyte into his stuff? I've been looking at Still Live, and The Complete At the Blue Note with great interest. at this point I'm interested in the trio stuff, might explore his solo stuff later.