| 80/81 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1980 | |||
| Recorded | May 26–29, 1980 | |||
| Studio | Talent Studio, Oslo, Norway | |||
| Genre | Jazz, folk jazz | |||
| Length | 80:25 | |||
| Label | ECM 1180/81 | |||
| Producer | Manfred Eicher | |||
| Pat Metheny chronology | ||||
| ||||
80/81 is a double album by jazz guitarist Pat Metheny recorded over four days in May 1980 and released on ECM later that year. Metheny leads a quartet consisting of the rhythm section of Charlie Haden and Jack DeJohnette, with saxophone duties alternating between Dewey Redman and Michael Brecker.
Metheny toured in the U.S. in fall 1980 with a quartet including Redman, Haden and drummer Paul Motian. [1] In the summer of 1981, he toured Europe with the full 80/81 lineup featured on the album. [2]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [3] |
| DownBeat |  [4] |
| The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings | [5] |
| The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide | [6] |
In a review for AllMusic, Richard S. Ginell wrote that "Metheny's credibility with the jazz community went way up with the release of this package", and called the album "a superb two-CD collaboration with a quartet of outstanding jazz musicians that dared to be uncompromising at a time when most artists would have merely continued pursuing their electric commercial successes." [3]
In an article at Between Sound and Space, Tyran Grillo called the album a "still-fresh sonic concoction", and noted that "With 80/81, Pat Metheny took one step closer to his dream of working with The Prophet of Freedom (Ornette Coleman) (a dream he finally achieved with 1985's Song X)". He concluded: "Like much of what Metheny produces, 80/81 is wide open in two ways. First in its far-reaching vision, and second it its willingness to embrace the listener. Like a dolly zoom, he enacts an illusion of simultaneous recession and approach, lit like a fuse that leads not to an explosion, but to more fuse." [7]
JazzTimes included the album in an article titled "10 Best Jazz Albums of the 1980s: Critics' Picks", in which Philip Booth stated: "Enlisting four of the musicians he most admired... the 26-year-old guitarist successfully translated the sound in his head to beautifully open, airy, sometimes urgent recordings." [8]
All music is composed by Pat Metheny except as noted
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Two Folk Songs: 1st" | 13:17 | |
| 2. | "Two Folk Songs: 2nd" | Charlie Haden | 7:31 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "80/81" | 7:28 | |
| 2. | "The Bat" | 5:58 | |
| 3. | "Turnaround" | Ornette Coleman | 7:05 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Open" |
| 14:25 |
| 2. | "Pretty Scattered" | 6:56 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Every Day (I Thank You)" | 13:16 |
| 2. | "Goin' Ahead" | 3:56 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Two Folk Songs: One / Two" | 20:52 |
| 2. | "Every Day (I Thank You)" | 13:21 |
| 3. | "Goin' Ahead" | 3:51 |
| 4. | "80/81" | 7:34 |
| 5. | "The Bat" | 6:05 |
| 6. | "Turnaround" | 7:04 |
Patrick Bruce Metheny is an American jazz guitarist and composer.
Jack DeJohnette is an American jazz drummer, pianist, and composer.
Michael Leonard Brecker was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was awarded 15 Grammy Awards as a performer and composer, received an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music in 2004, and was inducted into the DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame in 2007.
Joshua Redman is an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He is the son of jazz saxophonist Dewey Redman (1931–2006).
Walter Dewey Redman was an American saxophonist who performed free jazz as a bandleader and with Ornette Coleman and Keith Jarrett.
Offramp is the third studio album by the Pat Metheny Group, recorded in October 1981 and released on ECM May the following year. The performers are Pat Metheny; Lyle Mays, Steve Rodby and Danny Gottlieb in the rhythm section; and percussionist and singer Naná Vasconcelos.
Pat Metheny Group is the debut album by the Pat Metheny Group, recorded in January 1978 and released on ECM in March that same year. The quartet features rhythm section Lyle Mays, Mark Egan, and Danny Gottlieb.
American Garage is the second studio album by the Pat Metheny Group, recorded in June 1979 and released on ECM in November 1979. The quartet features rhythm section Lyle Mays, Mark Egan and Dan Gottlieb.
Eyes of The Heart is a live album by American pianist Keith Jarrett recorded at the Theater am Kornmarkt in Bregenz, Austria in May 1976 and released on ECM in 1979—the last release by Jarrett's "American Quartet", featuring saxophonist Dewey Redman and rhythm section Charlie Haden and Paul Motian.
Song X is a collaborative studio album by American jazz guitarist Pat Metheny and saxophonist Ornette Coleman. It is a free jazz record that was produced in a three-day recording session in 1985. The album was released in 1985 by Geffen Records.
Bop-Be is the final album on the Impulse label by jazz pianist Keith Jarrett's 'American Quartet'. Released in 1978, it features performances by Jarrett, Dewey Redman, Charlie Haden, and Paul Motian. Its tracks were recorded in October 1976, along with those that produced Byablue. These two albums document the swan song of Jarrett's American Quartet and, aside from "classical music", the last albums Jarrett released on a label other than ECM.
Byablue is one of the last albums recorded by the so-called 'American Quartet' of jazz pianist Keith Jarrett. It was recorded in October 1976 in two sessions that also helped produce the album Bop-Be. Released on the Impulse label in 1977, it features performances by Jarrett, Dewey Redman, Charlie Haden, and Paul Motian. Musically speaking, even though the album Eyes of the Heart made it last to the market, Byablue and Bop-Be document the swan song of Jarrett's American Quartet in several ways, but most of all the inclusion of compositions by members other than Jarrett himself deliver another taste. While that did not happen before, for what would be the quartet's final recording sessions, Jarrett requested that band members contribute with their own compositions. Byablue consisted primarily of Paul Motian's pieces, while Bop-Be included Redman and Haden's contributions.
Mysteries is an album by jazz pianist Keith Jarrett recorded in two sessions in December 1975. Originally released by Impulse! in 1976, it features performances by Jarrett's 'American Quartet' of saxophonist Dewey Redman, bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Paul Motian, along with percussionist Guilherme Franco. These December, 1975 sessions also produced the album Shades.
Pilgrimage is the final studio album by saxophonist Michael Brecker. It was recorded in 2006, released the following year, and won Grammys for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group and Best Jazz Instrumental Solo.
Michael Brecker is the debut album by American saxophonist Michael Brecker. It was released on the Impulse! record label in 1987. It features guitarist Pat Metheny, pianist Kenny Kirkland, bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Jack DeJohnette.
Old and New Dreams is the self-titled second album by jazz quartet Old and New Dreams, recorded in 1979 and released on ECM later that year. The quintet features trumpeter Don Cherry, saxophonist Dewey Redman, and rhythms section Charlie Haden and Ed Blackwell—their debut, released on Black Saint, was also self titled.
Playing is a live album by American jazz quartet Old and New Dreams recorded at the Cornmarket Theater in Austria and released on ECM the following year. The quartet consists brass section Don Cherry and Dewey Redman and rhythm section Charlie Haden and Ed Blackwell.
Nearness of You: The Ballad Book is the seventh studio album by saxophone player Michael Brecker. Accompanied by Herbie Hancock on piano, Pat Metheny on guitars, Charlie Haden on bass, Jack DeJohnette on drums, and a special guest appearance by James Taylor, the album was released by Verve Records on June 19, 2001.
American Dreams is an album by bassist Charlie Haden with saxophonist Michael Brecker recorded in 2002 and released on the Verve label.
Blues For Pat: Live in San Francisco, is a live album by The Joshua Redman Quartet featuring Pat Metheny, Christian McBride and Billy Higgins, released in 1995.
