darkshade Pat is back! With a new lineup, bringing over long-time bandmate at this point, Antonio Sanchez, on drums. On bass is Linda May Han Oh, and on piano is Gwilym Simcock. The band is backed up by an orchestra. This is arguably one of his best albums over a 50 year career, which is quite a feat this late in the game. I haven't felt this great about a Pat Metheny album since The Way Up, released almost 15 years prior to this album. There's been some good stuff released in between, but nothing that has been as enjoyable as anything from 2005 and earlier... until From This Place.

From the massive prog-jazz opening track America Undefined, to the final heartfelt Love May Take Awhile, this album is a journey, and an emotional roller coaster, as Pat's best albums usually are. I enjoy every track here. The opener is very intense, with even some kind of rock out section in the last part, very exciting way to open things up. Same River is very classic Pat Metheny, Pathmaker is possibly the most fun tune on this album, and the harmonica player from The Way Up appears on The Past Is Us, a great tune. The emotional title song touches on the political climate of the late 2010s, but I think the final two pieces, Sixty-Six, written for Pat's age at the time, and the aforementioned Love May Take Awhile, are two of the most powerful pieces of music Pat has put out yet. The orchestral strings really shine on these last two.

I am reminded of Lyle Mays throughout this album, who passed away about a week before this album was released. The tune Sixty-Six takes on a whole other meaning for that is the age Lyle was at his passing, and the music is reminiscent of the Pat Metheny Group classic, "Last Train Home" makes it seem like a tribute to the life of Lyle Mays. The piano work of Gwilym Simcock is to be commended as he really brings out the spirit of Lyle throughout the music of From This Place. The orchestra does this as well, providing the synth-heavy background ambience Lyle would often provide in the PMG along with is piano playing, with an orchestra instead.

Overall, this album is like a marriage of Secret Story and The Way Up, while also bringing back some of the mid-Western sound from the 70s bands, with a pinch of the 80s PMG sound for good measure. All the while pushing things forward, there are many surprises throughout, some things I've never heard Pat do before. As far as his guitar playing, of course it's fantastic as usual, but this time he sounds more inspired than usual as of late, and his classic tone is back. Pat has never sounded so good. His clean guitar tone here is well balanced and warm, unlike his previous few albums where his tone was dry, far-away sounding, and cold.

Highly recommended for anyone who is even slightly into Pat's music. Great album from the modern master of Jazz.

js “Kin” is the second installment from Pat Metheny’s new ‘super group’, the Unity band. Once again the brilliant saxophonist Chris Potter is on board, as well as the rhythm section of Ben Williams and Antonio Sanchez. Giulio Carmassi has been added on a variety of instruments as well as voice, and Pat’s bizarre mechanical orchestrion has been added to the mix too. “Kin” is a well crafted album with a vast variety of sounds and textures, with the group often sounding like a mini-orchestra, but there are some problems too, mostly in sound production, not performance.

“Kin” opens with a couple of highly ambitious multi-sectioned pieces that almost sound like suites within themselves. On these pieces the band builds layers of sound over Afro-Latin rhythms while Potter turns in stellar solos on the sax. Pat plays some nice solos too, but this is where some of the sound problems begin. On the opening track, “On Day One” Pat’s guitar seems buried under layers of fake reverb, and on other tracks he utilizes a thin, almost annoying synth guitar sound. I had no idea any guitarists still dabbled with the synth-guitar, it always seemed like a failed experiment at best. Track three, “Adagia”, is a nice balladic change of pace before the band heads back for more epic soundtracks over Afro-Latin grooves.

After these first five tracks, “Kin” takes a left turn and ends with a series of ballads, not really jazz ballads per se, but more in the pop/rock/soul vein really. These songs would fit well on an album by Seal or John Legend, they are all well written and soulfully played by Potter and the others, so its just a matter of taste if these cuts work for you or not. The one oddball in this closing batch of songs is “We Go On” , a short little jagged melody that sounds like early Ornette Coleman, it sounds great, but it also seems entirely out of place.

Fans of Pat Metheny and contemporary jazz in general will find a lot to like here, some of the opening cuts are very imaginative with plenty of fresh ideas and great solos, and I think contemporary jazz fans are going to be less annoyed by the overly processed modern digital sound that can be bothersome to others. Like a lot of modern jazz records, “Kin”, has been subjected to heavy compression so it can easily blend with other jazz cuts for play on modern internet jazz radio stations. Unfortunately, compression can also drain some life out of the music and make Potter’s big tenor sax sound too thin and impersonal.

siLLy puPPy I am not the hugest fan of smooth jazz but I can take it in small doses. The likes of Kenny G, The Rippingtons and their ilk are ok, but I generally prefer more of a bite in my jazz tastes with my favorites being the most adventurous musical souls. PAT METHENY alone and with his GROUP rarely manage to excite me and always tread lightly upon the musical paths they embark upon. Such the case can be said for this release THE WAY UP which seems to be universally hailed as their best album and judging by the handful of METHENY releases I have listened to so far, I would have to agree with that statement. Yes, this is still smooth jazz, but this is progressive smooth jazz!

This album was inspired by both the works of Steve Reich and Eberhard Weber, both of whom METHENY has worked with. This album is designed to be one long album long track that reaches just over 68 minutes in length but broken into 4 tracks only for navigational purposes. The sounds on here are very typical for METHENY, of what i've heard so far, but what is very different from other releases is that the compositions are much more complex than anything i've encountered from this group so far. They master the art of extending pieces and exploring variations on themes and add interesting solos as well.

Although this still reminds me of fluffy unsalted and unbuttered popcorn with cotton balls in the clouds in a place where calmness and serenity suffocate any remote threat of surprise and angst, the fact is that when the compositions are interesting as on this album, then I have to admit that the smoother and calmer side of the jazz-fusion spectrum can be quite interesting indeed. Although this will probably never rank up there in the top ranks of my all time treasured albums, this certainly has a worthy spot in my collection to fire up every now and again simply to ride the jazz-fusiony ethers that are as light and fluffy as a light breezy spring shower raining pillows and marshmallows on the fertile lands where only white bunnies and fuzzy easter chicks roam.

siLLy puPPy Well what can I say. Not my thing. This is jazz-fusion all right, but very much on the light side. Nothing adventurous at all. If the Mahavishnu Orchestra is Godzilla, then this is Bambi. Nothing wrong with that if that is what you're looking for but a little tame for my tastes. I am not the biggest of Pat Metheny fans but I have heard albums that I like a lot better than this one. If you are into smooth jazz then this may be the thing for you. I can hear that the musicians are talented and all but it's just that I'm not that much into the style. Described as jazz meets Americana but i'm not feeling it. Only the last track saves this from being a one star album for me.

snobb Probably even devoted Pat Metheny fans have never heard about this album. Originally recorded in 2002 in Poland, and released in Poland and the Far East only, until 2008 it was the best kept secret from the rest of the world.

Originally considered a release by Polish diva Anna Maria Jopek, in 2008 it was reissued by Nonesuch under Pat Metheny's name. Anna Maria Jopek is an excellent Polish artist, not a very strong jazz vocalist, but a soulful singer, beautiful woman and she has strong artistic appeal. "Upojenje"("Extasy") was recorded soon after Anna met Pat Metheny at a European jazz festival. Reworking some old Metheny compositions (and adding Polish lyrics), plus some of Anna's songs and a few more modernised Polish folk songs, this album represents that rare and strange magic you very often can't describe.

After the few very first Metheny albums, I lost interest in his polished straight-ahead fusion, world tunes and easy-listening contemporary jazz albums. His rare experimental albums sounded even less interesting, yet here on this work with the Polish diva, I find what he does best: combining his tunes and nice lyrical musicianship with pop-jazz/adult-pop vocals, plus soulful Eastern European folk-fusion and melodies. On this CD Pat demonstrates the best formula I have heard from him yet.

With support from leading Polish jazz musicians (incl. pianist Leszek Mozdzer) and known world fusion percussionist Mino Cinelu, this long album sounds pleasant, but very far from being boring (the international version is even longer - it contains 3 bonus tracks, 17 songs at all).

Don't expect the usual Pat Metheny fusion from this release though - dreamy soulful jazz-influenced Eastern European songs (sounding very modern) are what you'll find here. If you like stylish jazzy adult-pop vocal songs and are interested in hearing unusual sounding classic Metheny compositions - find this album, you won't be disappointed.

Matti P The gig date is July 1998 and the venue is not-so-ordinary stage at the Mountain Winery, Saratoga, California. The film is beautifully directed and edited by Steve Rodby, the bassist of the seven-piece group. The composition credits are shared by Metheny and keyboardist Lyle Mays. The main body of the set is from the then-latest album Imaginary Day (1997), which is one of the finest and most eclectic Pat Metheny Group albums.

On the opening solo number 'Into the Dream' Metheny plays peculiar 42-string "Pikasso" guitar that produces sounds reminiscent to kantele or zither. The group joins him on the groovy, bright & happy 'Follow Me' that features also some wordless singing from multi-instrumentalists Mark Ledford (trumpet, guitar, percussion) and Philip Hamilton (percussion, guitar). The frontman himself throws in his trade mark high-pitched guitar sound.

The 10-minute title track is an impressive example of the way this wonderful group builds exciting sonic textures and eclectic musical vocabulary without ever losing a certain positively charged accessibility and emotion. 'Heat of the Day' is a hectic piece full of percussive vitality but also a more serene pianism of Mays. Mellow 'Across the Sky' approaches a song structure in a nice way. The warm-spirited gig ends with three pieces outside of Imaginary Day. 'Message to a Friend' is a moody acoustic guitar solo.

Extra features on the 93-min. DVD include a Metheny interview, discography (featuring album covers and track lists), band member biographies, and Notes About the Album / Instrumentation / Tracks / Writing Process. Reading it all can be a bit exhausting, but in the end these extras help this DVD deserve a sincere recommendation for all fans of Pat Metheny. Musically speaking, this is one of the most enjoyable jazz/fusion live DVD's I have ever viewed.