It was 1984 when I first heard of Pat Metheny. I had a friend that I turned on to some of my favorite guitarists, and he was impressed with them: the latin jazziness of Al Di Meola, the electric fusion of John Mclaughlin, and the sheer audacity, power, strength and speed of Steve Morse. He had a counter-offer: Pat Metheny. I had never heard of Pat before, nor had I heard his music, and promptly went out and purchased his latest recording at the time, "First Circle". I also was informed that the Pat Metheny Group was coming to town(I lived in Pullman, Washington at the time), so I thought this would be a good introduction to his music, and then I would also be prepared and "familiarized" with his music if I went to see the group in concert. I can tell you that I became an instant fan of Pat Metheny, and the Pat Metheny group, upon hearing this recording. His is a much mellower style than the guitarists I listened to before, but the grace and style with which he plays and composes music, has a great deal of merit to it. What follows is information about this recording, including a track list, and a review of it, track by track, as well as my experience seeing the Pat Metheny Group for the first time in 1984.

Information about "First Cirlce".

Track List:

1. Forward March 2:49
2. Yolanda, You Learn 4:46
3. The First Circle 9:11
4. If I could 6:55
5. Tell It All 7:57
6. End of the Game 7:58
7. Mas Alla(Beyond) 5:39
8. Praise 4:18

Personnel:

Pat Metheny--All guitars(synclavier guitar, sitar guitar, slide guitar, acoustic guitars, guitar synthesizer, 12-string acoustic guitars)

Lyle Mays-all keyboards, trumpet.

Steve Rodby--Acoustic and electric bass.

Paul Wertico--drums and percussion

Pedro Aznar--Vocals, percussion, guitars, bells, drums, marimba, and whistle.

Format: CD
Cost: $10.99-14.99(cheaper at half.com)

Review of "First Circle".

1. "Forward March".

The first song you will hear on "First Circle" is "Forward March". Don't base your opinion of this recording on this song alone, until you read this! "Forward March" is intended to be a spoof of high school marching bands, and their off-key sound. This being said, the group set forth to be as off-key as possible in this song, and do a great job of it! It was very entertaining to see this in concert:
Pat was on stage alone, jamming on the odd-sounding Synclavier Guitar, and up from the various rows behind the audience came the other members of the group: Paul Wertico on a bass drum typical of marching bands, Lyle Mays on a trumpet, Pedro on a triangle, and Steve Rodby with a tambourine. It was rather charming, as they played and marched up to the stage to join Pat, and finish the tune completely, and deliberately, out of tune! This one was composed by Pat.

2. "Yolanda, You Learn".

Immediately after the first track is done, we get down to business with "Yolanda, You Learn". The doubts you may have had with the competency of the band with "Forward March", are immediately dispelled! The drummer, Paul Wertico, starts us off on with a snappy and bouncy tempo, and is joined right away by Lyle on piano, and Steve on bass guitar. Pat joins the fray soon after on an electric sitar guitar, giving a certain and distinctive quality to the jazz. Lyle Mays plays trumpet again on this tune, and Pedro Aznar plays just about everything, and sings. Now, I don't like vocals in jazz in general, but Pedro Aznar is an exception to this. He sings harmonies with the guitar, and really compliments it well. In concert, it sounded even better than on the studio version, which is fantastic. After hearing this one a couple of times, you will be a fan, I am sure! This one was composed by Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays.

3. "The First Circle".

Pedro accompanies Pat in beginning this beatiful track, the title track of the recording. Then, in beautiful syncopation, Lyle Mays plays piano to Pat's nylon-srung guitar, and it melts into a phrase so sublime and beautiful, that it can almost bring tears to your eyes. This introduction is just the beginning to this 9 minute tune, and we get into the heart of the song, which builds in perfect harmony, rhythym, and it flows really well. Pat changes guitars to electric, and Lyle changes to synthesizer, all accompanied by Pedro on vocals. He "sings" the heart of the song, and does a fantastic job, his wonderful Brazilian clear and high voice hitting low and high notes. We then have a mellow breakdown with Lyle Mays playing a piano solo that somehow builds us up to the climax of the song, with some nice synthesizer work and drum work. This one was great in concert as well, and Pat told the audience the story of how they found Pedro on a tour of Brazil. Apparently Pedro, a teenager at the time, had made a demo tape and sent it in to a radio station, and somehow someone played it for Pat Metheny, and he was impressed how "this guy could sing beatles songs, play over a dozen instruments, and loved jazz". Pat met with him, and included him in his group, with great results! "The First Circle" was composed by Pat Metheny.

4. "If I Could".

Pat composes again, and this is an extremely mellow song. Pat plays acoustic guitar, and is accompanied by Lyle on Oberheim, Steve on Acoustic Bass, and Paul on brushes on drums. A sweetly mellow song, it could almost be a lullably!

5. "Tell It All".

With Pat and Lyle co-composing this track, we have another interesting combination of sound. The track starts with Lyle on agogo bells, pedro on marimba, and voice. Then Pat gets us into the jazz mood with his electric guitar. Man, can he flow up and down the neck of that baby! Jazz guitar is just something that is not appreciated much these days, nor heard very much. You will definitely appreciate Pat's abilities on this tune, I am sure of it!

6. "End of the Game"

This one is aptly named, "End of the Game". It has the feel of an anti-climax to it from the beginning tempo and throughout the song. Pat and Lyle co-composed this one too, and you will enjoy Pat play on his Guitar Synthesizer, accompanied by Lyle on his keyboard synthesizer. There are some nice point and counterpoint elements to the soloing in the middle that are interesting, and lovely to listen to as well. Pat's guitar almost sounds like a trumpet or coronet.
He really hits some high notes in this nearly 8 minute track.


7. "Mas Alla"(Beyond).

Pat composes this one again, and again, it is a very mellow and reflective tune. Lyle plays piano, and Pedro sings in Portuguese, the only tune on the CD where he sings in any language, and sings quite beautifully. A very nice little tune.

8. "Praise".

This track finishes up the CD, and it does have a spiritual feel to it "Praise". It also has a nice sort of finality to it. Co-composed by Lyle and Pat, this one flows well from start to finish. It has a nice acoustic part in the middle with Pat and Pedro dueting on acoustic guitars, Pedro "sings" the theme nicely and smoothly, and we finishe off with Pat wielding his Synclavier Guitar like a God(and sounding like a trumpet too)!

All in all, "First Circle" was for me, a great introduction to Pat Metheny and his music. It made wondeful preparation for me to see his concert backing this recording, and made a fan of me instantly. I now have about a dozen Metheny recordings, and go and see him whenever he comes to town. If you like jazz, smooth jazz, mellow jazz/fusion, you will like this artist. Try it out, you may just like it.




Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Getting ready to go out

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