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Pat Metheny – Tap: John Zorn’s Book Of Angels, Vol. 20 (2013/2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 50:39 minutes | 1,04 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download – Source: HighResAudio | Front Cover | © Nonesuch Records
Recorded by Pat Metheny in New York, NY; Additional Recording at MSR Studios, New York, NY
Nonesuch Records and Tzadik simultaneously release guitarist Pat Metheny s recording of John Zorn s Tap: The Book of Angels, Vol. 20 from Zorn s Masada Book Two. This album is the first collaboration between the two artists, considered among their generation s most innovative musicians. Besides his frequent collaborator, drummer Antonio Sanchez, Metheny plays all other instruments guitars, sitar, tiples, bass, keyboards, orchestrionics, electronics, bandoneón, percussion, flugelhorn, and more himself.
Beginning in the 1990s, Zorn wrote 500 songs inspired by traditional Jewish music; they came to be known as two volumes of the Masada Book. He performed the first 200 songs of Book One with the rotating members of the Masada ensemble for a decade before writing Book Two s 300 tunes in just three months. Over the past eight years, the songs from Book Two have been recorded as volumes of The Book of Angels by a stellar group of musicians, including the Masada Quintet, Masada String Trio, Medeski Martin & Wood, and Marc Ribot.
Zorn says of Metheny s recording, ‘Pat is of course a living legend one of those rare lights in the universe. His incredible facility and dedication, indefatigable energy and focus, imagination, and never-ending curiosity have distinguished him as truly one of the greatest musicians on the planet. ‘ He continues, ‘Tap is a showcase for Pat s remarkable imagination, technique, passion, and love for the world. No matter how many times I listen to this recording I am hit with that same sense of exhilaration that hit me the very first time.’
Metheny, who won his 20th Grammy Award in 2013, adds, ‘I have admired John Zorn since the late 70s and have followed his amazing output every step of the way. A few years ago, after contacting me to write some notes for one of his Arcana publications, John and I began an inspired e-mail connection. (As hard as it is to believe, we had never met in person over the years.) I mentioned that I had followed his Book of Angels series from the start and felt like I might be able to contribute something unique to the collection. With his enthusiastic encouragement, he gave me some suggestions as to which tunes were still unrecorded, and I picked the ones that jumped out and spoke to me. Over the next year, in between breaks from the road, I recorded them one by one in my home studio whenever I got a chance. ‘
On his own recordings, Pat Metheny has always pushed his artistic envelope. Very occasionally when moving to the outside, it’s been to the chagrin of some fans. It happened with Ornette Coleman on the brilliant Song X in 1985; next was on the screaming guitar effort Zero Tolerance for Silence in 1994, and finally on his collaboration with Derek Bailey on The Sign of 4 in 1997. But while his collaboration with another true American original, the prolific composer John Zorn, is outside work for Metheny, it may not alienate longtime fans due to its relative accessibility. The Book of Angels is the composer’s second book of compositions based on ancient, often mystical Jewish music; it contains over 300 pieces. These works have set melodies but leave plenty of room for other musicians to interpret and add to them. Other than drums — played by Antonio Sanchez — Metheny performs everything: guitars, orchestrion, piano, bass, bandoneon, bells, even flügelhorn. He takes Zorn’s mysterious compositions and completely recontextualizes them while remaining true to them. Metheny introduces new musical ideas, myriad textural flights, and rhythmic invention to these works with a wide colorist’s palette. “Mastema,” with its hypnotic theme, is adorned by rock drumming from Sanchez, who handles the 11/8 signature with ease, while Metheny layers numerous countrapuntal guitars, backmasked, wailing solos, and shifting orchestrion pulses to dynamic result. Likewise, the contemplative acoustic guitars of “Albim” give way to a shimmering swing that adds tinges of tango and Brazilian music — it wouldn’t have been out of place on one of his own albums. The heart of “Tharsis” is a klezmer melody. Acoustic guitars, percussion, guitar synth, and piano display Metheny’s signature euphoric interiority and balance with the inherent lyricism in Zorn’s tune even as Sanchez forcefully pushes at the tempo. “Sariel” uses tiples, baritone, and high-stringed guitars to shape the melody. It’s like a choir of ouds. As the piece develops, chord structures advance the sketch, and eventually Sanchez enters, adding a rock thrust. Metheny piles on electric guitars and basses to go on an extended workout, soaring with harmonic ideas and textural elements that resemble those from Italian film scores of the 1970s and ’80s. No matter how unfettered his imagination runs on these pieces, neither he nor Zorn disappear. The set’s closer, “Hurmiz,” may raise a few eyebrows. Metheny plays piano in a duet with Sanchez that suggests free jazz, though the attention to space, form, and lyricism is inherent. Tap: John Zorn’s Book of Angels, Vol. 20 is a special album in both men’s catalogs. (It’s being released simultaneously on both Nonesuch and Tzadik.) These compositions offer Metheny something that he’s seldom been able to take advantage of. While he’s regularly performed the works of other composers, he has seldom had the opportunity to so thoroughly orchestrate and arrange them. Ironically, this collaboration has resulted in giving him the freedom to explore his artistic expression as an individual, at a deeper level. –AllMusic Review by Thom Jurek
Tracklist:
1 Mastema 7:20
2 Albim 9:07
3 Tharsis 5:54
4 Sariel 11:09
5 Phanuel 10:55
6 Hurmiz 6:12
Personnel:
Pat Metheny, acoustic and electric guitars, baritone guitar, sitar guitar, tiples, bass, piano, orchestrionic marimba, orchestra bells, bandoneon, percussion, electronics, flugelhorn
Antonio Sanchez, drums
Willow Metheny, vocals #6
John Zorn, composer
Download:
mqs.link_PatMethenyTapJhnZrnsBkfAngelsVl.2020132016HRA2496.part1.rar
mqs.link_PatMethenyTapJhnZrnsBkfAngelsVl.2020132016HRA2496.part2.rar
