Rating:
Genre:
Jazz
Release Date: 08/26/2008
Run Time: 35:21
The back liner photo gives the impression of a grungy Midwestern garage band, but no, that doesn't describe this sophisticated jazz-rock quartet, which was simultaneously breaking into mass-market acceptance and away from the contemplative ECM stereotype. The arrangements are more structured, the playing often more intense and searching, with a more pronounced rock influence. On the title track,
Metheny digs in and displays some authoritative rock-oriented licks and intensity, and the rhythms on
"The Search" have a slight, at times asymmetrical Latin feeling. The nearly 13-minute
"The Epic" finds the
Metheny group developing some real combustion in the improvised sections as
Metheny, keyboardist
Lyle Mays, bassist
Mark Egan and drummer
Danny Gottlieb grow tighter as a unit. In hindsight, some of the music seems a bit too tightly conceived to allow adequate breathing room, but this is still high-quality jazz-rock for its time.
~Richard S. Ginell, All Music Guide
;)
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