PAT METHENY — Pat Metheny Unity Group: Kin (←→) (review)

PAT METHENY — Pat Metheny Unity Group: Kin (←→) album cover Album · 2014 · Fusion Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
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.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Jazz Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

JMA TOP 5 Jazz ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
A Love Supreme Post Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
Kind of Blue Cool Jazz
MILES DAVIS
Buy this album from our partners
The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady Progressive Big Band
CHARLES MINGUS
Buy this album from our partners
Blue Train Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
My Favorite Things Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners

New Jazz Artists

New Jazz Releases

Fellowship Hard Bop
DAVID GIBSON
Buy this album from MMA partners
They Say It’s Wonderful Vocal Jazz
VERONICA THOMAS (AKA NICA CARRINGTON)
Buy this album from MMA partners
Parallels Post Bop
JOE SANDERS
Buy this album from MMA partners
Live at Orangefield RnB
VAN MORRISON
Buy this album from MMA partners
Alternate Summer Post Bop
TOM HARRELL
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Jazz Online Videos

They Say It’s Wonderful
VERONICA THOMAS (AKA NICA CARRINGTON)
js· 16 hours ago
Van Morrison 2024 Live At Orangefield
VAN MORRISON
js· 17 hours ago
Miramar
TOM HARRELL
js· 17 hours ago
Love for Sale
THOM ROTELLA
js· 18 hours ago
Jake Shimabukuro, Mick Fleetwood - Rollin' N Tumblin'
JAKE SHIMABUKURO
js· 1 day ago
More videos

New JMA Jazz Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Jazz News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed