#progressive jazz

NUCLEUS - Song For The Bearded Lady

Alb. “We’ll Talk About It Later" (1970)

(English / Español / Italiano)

His brother, trumpeter Mike Metheny, introduced him to jazz, and at the age of 12 he picked up a guitar for the first time. After developing his technique at an astonishing speed, studying classic jazz masters such as guitarists Wes Montgomery and Charlie Christian, at the age of fifteen he won a scholarship for talented young musicians donated by Downbeat magazine and then entered the University of Miami, also on a scholarship. Shortly afterwards, at the age of 19, he was already teaching guitar at the prestigious Berklee School of Music in Boston, where his students included Al Di Meola and Mike Stern.

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Patrick Brucce Metheny, verdadero nombre del guitarrista y compositor, Pat Metheny, (Lee’s Summit, Misuri; 12 de agosto de 1954), fue considerado desde su infancia un niño prodigio. Su hermano, el trompetista, Mike Metheny, lo inició en el jazz y a los 12 años agarró por primera vez una guitarra. Después de desarrollar su técnica a una velocidad asombrosa, estudiando a clásicos maestros del jazz como los guitarristas, Wes Montgomery y Charlie Christian, ganó a los quince años, una beca para jóvenes músicos con talento donada por la revista «Downbeat» y luego ingresó, también becado, a la Universidad de Miami. Poco después, con 19 años de edad, ya estaba dando clases de guitarra en la prestigiosa academia de «Berklee School of Music» de Boston, y entre sus alumnos, estaban Al Di Meola y Mike Stern.

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Patrick Brucce Metheny, vero nome del chitarrista e compositore Pat Metheny (Lee's Summit, Missouri, 12 agosto 1954), è stato considerato fin dall'infanzia un bambino prodigio. Suo fratello, il trombettista Mike Metheny, lo ha avvicinato al jazz e all'età di 12 anni ha impugnato per la prima volta una chitarra. Dopo aver sviluppato la sua tecnica a una velocità sorprendente, studiando i maestri classici del jazz come i chitarristi Wes Montgomery e Charlie Christian, all'età di quindici anni vinse una borsa di studio per giovani musicisti di talento donata dalla rivista "Downbeat" e poi entrò, sempre con una borsa di studio, all'Università di Miami. Poco dopo, all'età di 19 anni, insegnava già chitarra alla prestigiosa Berklee School of Music di Boston, e tra i suoi allievi c'erano Al Di Meola e Mike Stern.

attention deficit // an exchange of niceties

VA - This Is British Progressive Jazz - John Surman, Dudu Pukwana, Graham Collier, & more

Ceremony of Dreams: Studio Sessions & Outtakes 1972–1977 Entourage Music and Theatre Ensemble 2018, Tompkins Square (Bandcamp)

Still wildly underknown given the transporting beauty of their compositions, there is a world next door to this one where Baltimore’s Entourage Music and Theatre Ensemble is as popular a soundtrack for meditation and study as Steve Reich or Philip Glass are in our own. Their music lies somewhere between modern chamber music and progressive folk, with a dash of jazz, and it was often used to score experimental dance and theatre productions. The band released two albums in the 1970s on Folkways before dissolving following the death of bandleader Joe Clark in 1983. Most probably their obscurity came from practicing their craft outside a major cultural centre; if anything, the 1,600 monthly listeners they command on Spotify represents wider exposure than they enjoyed in their prime.

Ceremony of Dreams, available in a three-hour digital format or an abridged ten-track vinyl, collects material that didn’t make it onto either of their Folkways records. Compared to Entourage and The Neptune Collection, these tracks are a little less playful, less overtly experimental in their production; they weren’t after all recorded specifically for release as an LP. But even in its condensed wax form, I can speak to the quality of Ceremony’s sober reveries, the lot of it grey or ghost-haloed yet coruscating, like black and white footage of waves crashing at night. Rather than a mere trove of demos, it meaningfully expands on their discography.

The Pitchfork review does a better job of namedropping comparable artists than I have the chutzpah for today (Arvo Pärt, Bert Jansch, La Monte Young, John Cale, Sandy Bull, raga like in general), but if you have a taste for open-concept acoustic music, Ceremony of Dreams is a sure shot.

(As an aside though: It's either endearing or grownworthy that the Entourage boys still have the classic doofy musician dude sense of humour that compels them to give these ethereal compositions "Lick My Lovepump"-ass names like "Sleazy Sue" and "Necrophelia.")