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Article: Reviews of releases by Pat Metheny Group, Cory Morrow, Pinback.
- Article from:
- The Dallas Morning News (Dallas, TX)
- Article date:
- February 19, 2002
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 The Dallas Morning News. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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PAT METHENY GROUP "Speaking of Now" (Warner Bros.) Grade: B
The Pat Metheny Group has always been a `tweener act _ a band that falls between straight jazz and the oatmealy sounds of lite-jazz "fusion." On "Speaking of Now," its first CD in five years, the band refuses to budge from its middle ground.
Which isn't such a horrible crime. Purists may scoff at the group, but after more than 20 years it still has an uncanny knack for smoothing out jazz without stealing its soul.
Part of that's because Metheny knows all about the edgier side of jazz, having created avant-garde maelstroms with Ornette Coleman (on 1985's "Song X") and also on his own ...