Pat Metheny - Kin (Édition Studio Masters) (2014) [Hi-Res]

Last year, for the first time since 1980, guitarist Pat Metheny recorded with a band that highlighted tenor saxophone. Unity Band, which went on to win Metheny his 20th Grammy Award, featured Chris Potter on sax and bass clarinet, longtime collaborator Antonio Sanchez on drums, and Ben Williams on bass. Now, Metheny has added another musician, multi-instrumentalist Giulio Carmassi, and christened the ensemble Pat Metheny Unity Group.

Metheny says of this new Group, “The core quartet of Chris, Ben, Antonio, and me played more than 100 concerts over the year that followed the release of our Unity Band record. Over the course of that period, the band became one of those rare combinations of players where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts; it gelled in every way, and that just seemed to beg for expansion and further research.” He continues, “Simultaneously, I had been itching to write using more of a lush and orchestrated kind of concept that went beyond the sonic limits of what a straight-ahead quartet might invoke. But I really didn’t want to lose the energy, focus, and intensity of what this band had developed. I wanted to take it further. If the first Unity Band record was a thoughtful, black and white documentary of four musicians in a recording studio playing, this record is more like the Technicolor, IMAX version of what a band like this could be—but with that hardcore thing still sitting right in the middle of it all.”

„These pieces are closer to the romantically inclined, soaring melodicism of the Pat Metheny Group, yet retaining the energy of the Unity Band. It's a craft duality that makes for this album's appeal from an artist whose musical curiosity remains undiminished as he approaches his 60th birthday.“ (Jazzwise)

„The album takes guitar-led improvisation to new aesthetic, Metheny's eloquent guitar etching a kaleidoscope of sonic hues.“ (Mojo)

„By adding Guilio Carmassi to his current quartet, Metheny has brought lush colour to a band that gloried in tight, telepathic interplay. For latecomers to Metheny's wide oeuvre, the Unity Group is a great place to start.“ (BBC Music Magazine)

Pat Metheny, electric and acoustic guitars, guitar synth, electronics, orchestrionics, synths
Chris Potter, tenor sax, bass clarinet, soprano sax, clarinet, alto flute, bass flute
Antonio Sanchez, drums and cajon
Ben Williams, acoustic and electric basses
Giulio Carmassi, piano, trumpet, trombone, french horn, cello, vibes, clarinet, flute, recorder, alto sax, wurlitzer, whistling and vocals

Tracklist:
01. Pat Metheny - On Day One (15:16)
02. Pat Metheny - Rise Up (11:57)
03. Pat Metheny - Adagia (2:15)
04. Pat Metheny - Sign of the Season (10:14)
05. Pat Metheny - Kin (<-->) (11:06)
06. Pat Metheny - Born (7:51)
07. Pat Metheny - Genealogy (0:38)
08. Pat Metheny - We Go On (5:33)
09. Pat Metheny - Kqu (5:27)