Pat Metheny : MoonDial
Pat Metheny’s MoonDial is a singular work of patience and technique composed by a singular artist. Aptly titled, the album reveals Metheny’s return to his quiet, almost nocturnal pieces that are at once private and open to the public. The American jazz guitarist is a master improviser, working in a minimalist style to create shadowy, desolate songs that are simultaneously beautiful and filled with a lightness. His 2003 album One Quiet Night, in particular, introduced us to this sleek style that melds his musical ideas about jazz fusion and Latin jazz. Since then he has continued to create and blend a variety of different sounds—some big and upbeat, some smaller and intimate—but the sheer wonder of his imagination matched with his skillful improvisation is on full display with MoonDial.
Throughout his career, Metheny has proven himself to be a versatile artist that can expand his style and sound without losing that original kern and atmosphere that sets the guitarist apart from his contemporaries. The album’s title track starts the record off in evocative fashion—if it soundtracked a film, we might see a jaguar weaving its way through a forest in pursuit of some unknown target, along with a tone of a snake charmer spinning a tune for us to shake and shimmy to. Metheny balances subtle repetition of melody and wider-stretching themes and motifs. We are able to follow the guitar’s progress as it meanders like the Amazon through the vastness of South America.
In MoonDial, as in his older projects, he brilliantly uses longer songs to tell a tale’s unfolding and complexity. Unlike guitarists such as John Scofield or Bill Frisell, Metheny not only retains his unique sound but doesn’t necessarily feel the need to revisit his old ways. He’s always innovating and letting the tune take flight, his melodies adding dimension and new perspectives to what’s already familiar. The record contains both original songs and covers of various artists like Chick Corea (“You’re Everything”) as well as The Beatles (“Here, There and Everywhere”). As with his other somewhat recent solo guitar album, 2011’s What’s It All About, Metheny proves he can freestyle on just about anything, not just his own material.
Considering how to present a set of songs is a task that every artist faces. There aren’t really any standout tracks per se on Metheny’s new release. The individual songs on MoonDial aren’t what will inspire you to replay the album (though “My Love and I” glistens in moonlight-dappled sensuality). But that isn’t anything new in the jazz realm. Like many musicians in his field, he places the importance on the whole of the record. Yes, each track is composed carefully and performed wonderfully, but the album is intended to be listened to all the way through.
One exception is a track that arrives later in the record, “Shōga.” Immediately you can feel the change of tone and of tempo, Metheny’s playing more upbeat and urgent. He takes a turn toward jazz fusion with a slight folk-rock aura to it, and it’s the kind of song you’d want to rehear again and again. It’s stirring and lively; “Shōga” shakes things up, but not enough to derail the flow and musical narrative that comes before and that continues after the track has played.
Pat Metheny’s latest release is a gorgeous nocturne filled with dark shapes and sleek bodies, spotlighted by glittering beams of moonlight. And it’s a warm embrace as well. The guitarist’s technique is as sure as ever, and his musical taste and savoir faire prove why he’s won 20 Grammy awards, in multiple categories, and why he continues to be so influential on generations of musicians. MoonDial is technically an album of improvisations, but there is care, craft, and consideration permeating this set of songs.
Label: Modern/BMG
Year: 2024
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Pat Metheny : MoonDial
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