A live album, recorded on the 1982 tour supporting the release of Offramp. Like most good live jazz albums, it features many tunes never before recorded/released among a few fan favorites. In the early '80s, the group included "special guest" percussionist/vocalist Nana Vasconcelos and the band's sound at the time was heavily influenced by Brazilian music while still allowing Metheny to experiment with the latest technology. Perfectly sequenced, I find the recordings stunningly beautiful and recommend this release without hesitation.
The album won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance.
Memo to ECM: I'd be willing to fork over for a remastered box set that featured all the recordings made during this tour. (Complete tour dates available here.)
Reviews/ratings:
- Downbeat (★★★): "There's not enough edge to this music."
- Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★★★
- Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (1999): ★★★½
- The Penguin Guide to Jazz (5th ed., 2000): ★★★
Album chart peaks:
- US Billboard 200: #62
- Billboard Jazz: #3
- CashBox: #85
- CashBox Jazz: #2
- R&R Jazz Radio National Airplay: #5
Tracks:
| Track | Original Album | |
| Are You Going With Me? | Offramp | ✔ |
| The Fields, The Sky | Travels | ✔ |
| Goodbye | Travels | |
| Phase Dance | Pat Metheny Group | ✔ |
| Straight On Red | Travels | |
| Farmer's Trust | Travels | ✔ |
| Extradition | Travels | |
| Goin' Ahead - As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls | As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls | |
| Travels | Travels | ✔ |
| Song for Bilbao | Travels | |
| San Lorenzo | Pat Metheny Group | ✔ |
Personal Memory Associated with this CD: Among my college buddies in the mid-'80s, this was probably the Metheny album we listened to the most regardless of format: double LP, cassette, or eventually CD. As a knuckleheaded college kid, I couldn't truly comprehend the music and I'm not certain I fully understand it yet.
The album consists of live material recorded in July, October, and November 1982, in Philadelphia, Dallas, Sacramento, Hartford, and Nacogdoches. Nacogdoches (pronounced NAC-uh-DOH-chiss) is a small college town in deep East Texas where this humble blogger has lived since 2006. Metheny performed in (haunted?) Turner Auditorium on the campus of Stephen F. Austin State University (my employer during my time in Nacogdoches). I was nowhere near Nacogdoches in 1982, so I wasn't present at the recording of this album, but I've been in Turner Auditorium for plenty of events/concerts/performances over the past 11 years, most recently for the Big Head Blues Club.
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| The Pine Log, October 26, 1982 |
Previously revisited for the blog:
Selected Recordings :rarum IX (2004)
Steve Reich - Different Trains, Electric Counterpoint (1989)
The Falcon And The Snowman Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1985)
First Circle (1984)
Offramp (1982)
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