First Circle (album)

Last updated
First Circle
Pmg - first circle.jpg
Studio album by
Released1984
RecordedFebruary 15–19, 1984
Studio Power Station, New York City
Genre Jazz fusion
Length49:54
Label ECM 1278
Producer Pat Metheny
Pat Metheny chronology
Rejoicing
(1983)
First Circle
(1984)
The Falcon and the Snowman
(1985)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [1]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [2]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [3]

First Circle is the fourth studio album by the Pat Metheny Group recorded over four day in February 1984 and released on ECM later that year. Metheny is joined by Lyle Mays on keyboards, Steve Rodby on bass, Paul Wertico on drums, and Pedro Aznar on vocals, percussion, and guitar. First Circle won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance.

Contents

History

Two personnel changes occurred. Drummer Danny Gottlieb was replaced by Paul Wertico, and the Group was joined by multi-instrumentalist Pedro Aznar, who had already established himself with the band Serú Girán in his native Argentina.

On First Circle, the Group used instruments it hadn't recorded with before, including the sitar ("Yolanda, You Learn"), trumpet ("Forward March"), and agogo bells ("Tell It All"). The first song, "Forward March", with Lyle Mays on trumpet, uses dissonant, out-of-tune chords and shifting time signatures. On putting the song first, Metheny remarked that it "seemed like a good idea at the time." [4]

This was the first Group album to feature a song with written lyrics, "Más Allá," by Aznar.

First Circle expanded the scope of the Group's music. In a podcast retrospective, Metheny remarked that the album brought the Group to a creative high that he had been seeking since its foundation. "With the record, First Circle, I finally felt like the Group was what I hoped it might be someday...there was this feeling of, 'Okay, we've done it. We can go anywhere now.'" He stated that First Circle, Still Life (Talking) , and Letter from Home , among the Group's most popular albums, were part of a trilogy connected by their musical explorations and accessibly melodic personalities.

Along with "Phase Dance" and "Are You Going With Me?", the album's title track, "The First Circle", became one of the Group's most popular songs.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays except where noted

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Forward March"Metheny2:47
2."Yolanda, You Learn" 4:43
3."The First Circle" 9:10
4."If I Could"Metheny6:54
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Tell It All" 7:55
2."End of the Game" 7:57
3."Más Allá (Beyond)"Metheny, Pedro Aznar 5:37
4."Praise" 4:19

Personnel

Charts

YearChartPosition
1984Billboard Jazz Albums2
1984Billboard Top 100102

Awards

Grammy Awards

YearCategory
1985 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Wertico</span> American drummer (born 1953)

Paul Wertico is an American drummer. He gained recognition as a member of the Pat Metheny Group from 1983 until 2001, leaving the group to spend more time with his family and to pursue other musical interests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pat Metheny</span> American jazz guitarist and composer (born 1954)

Patrick Bruce Metheny is an American jazz guitarist and composer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lyle Mays</span> American jazz musician (1953–2020)

Lyle David Mays was an American jazz pianist, composer, and member of the Pat Metheny Group. Metheny and Mays composed and arranged nearly all of the group's music, for which Mays won eleven Grammy Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Rodby</span> American jazz bassist and producer (born 1954)

Steve Rodby is an American jazz bassist and producer known for his time with the Pat Metheny Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pat Metheny Group</span> American jazz band

The Pat Metheny Group was an American jazz band founded in 1977 by guitarist and composer Pat Metheny, along with his core collaborating member, keyboardist and composer Lyle Mays. Other long-standing members included bassist and producer Steve Rodby, from 1981 to 2010, and drummer Paul Wertico, from 1983 to 2001, after which Antonio Sanchez became the percussionist from 2002 to 2010. Vocalist Pedro Aznar was also a long-time member, performing with the group from 1984 to 1993. In addition to a core quartet, the group was often joined by a variety of other instrumentalists expanding the size to six or eight musicians.

<i>Man in the Air</i> 2003 studio album by Kurt Elling

Man in the Air is the sixth album by jazz vocalist Kurt Elling, recorded and released in 2003 by Blue Note Records.

<i>Offramp</i> (album) 1982 studio album by the Pat Metheny Group

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.

<i>Pat Metheny Group</i> (album) 1978 studio album by the Pat Metheny Group

Pat Metheny Group is the debut album by the Pat Metheny Group, recorded in January 1978 and released on ECM March that same year. The quartet features rhythm section Lyle Mays, Mark Egan, and Danny Gottlieb.

<i>As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls</i> 1981 studio album by Pat Metheny & Lyle Mays

As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls is an album by jazz guitarist Pat Metheny and jazz pianist Lyle Mays recorded in September 1980 and released on ECM April the following year. The trio features percussionist Naná Vasconcelos.

<i>Speaking of Now</i> 2002 studio album by Pat Metheny Group

Speaking of Now is the tenth studio album by the Pat Metheny Group. It was released in 2002 by Warner Bros. In 2003 the group was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album.

<i>The Way Up</i> 2005 studio album by Pat Metheny Group

The Way Up is the eleventh and final studio album by the Pat Metheny Group. It was released in 2005 and won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album in 2006. It is the last Pat Metheny album to feature long-time collaborator Lyle Mays.

<i>Travels</i> (Pat Metheny Group album) 1983 live album by Pat Metheny Group

Travels is a live double album by the Pat Metheny Group recorded in July, October, and November 1982 and released on ECM the following year. The quintet features pianist Lyle Mays and rhythm section Steve Rodby and Dan Gottlieb, with guest Nana Vasconcelos.

<i>We Live Here</i> 1995 studio album by Pat Metheny Group

We Live Here is the seventh studio album by the Pat Metheny Group. It won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album in 1996.

<i>Imaginary Day</i> 1997 studio album by Pat Metheny Group

Imaginary Day is the ninth studio album by the Pat Metheny Group. It was released in 1997 by Warner Bros. Records. The album was strongly inspired by world music from Iran and Indonesia, and won the 1999 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album. The song "The Roots of Coincidence" won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance; critic Richard Ginnell of AllMusic described the song as a dramatic departure for the group: "[an] out-and-out rock piece with thrash metal and techno-pop episodes joined by abrupt jump cuts."

<i>Still Life (Talking)</i> 1987 studio album by Pat Metheny Group

Still Life (Talking) is the fifth studio album by the Pat Metheny Group. It was released in 1987 on Geffen Records. It won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance and was certified gold by the RIAA on July 2, 1992.

<i>Letter from Home</i> (album) 1989 studio album by Pat Metheny Group

Letter from Home is the sixth studio album by the Pat Metheny Group. It was released in 1989 by Geffen Records. In 1990, the album won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance. It was certified gold by the RIAA on July 23, 1998.

<i>The Falcon and the Snowman</i> (album) 1985 soundtrack album by Pat Metheny Group

The Falcon and the Snowman (1985) is the [[soundtrack album to the film of the same name, composed and produced by Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays and performed by the Pat Metheny Group. It includes the song "This Is Not America," a major hit sung by David Bowie. The music is performed by the Pat Metheny Group with occasional orchestra and choir.

<i>Secret Story</i> (album) 1992 studio album by Pat Metheny

Secret Story is an album by Pat Metheny released in 1992 that won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album in 1993. All of the music is composed by Metheny, and it is one of his most ambitious studio ventures, integrating elements of jazz, rock, and world music. On the performing side, it includes collaborations with the Pinpeat Orchestra of the Royal Ballet of Cambodia, the London Orchestra and its conductor Jeremy Lubbock, the Choir of the Cambodian Royal Palace, legendary harmonica player Toots Thielemans, and keyboardist Lyle Mays from Pat Metheny Group.

<i>The Road to You</i> 1993 live album by Pat Metheny Group

The Road to You is the second live album by the Pat Metheny Group that won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Performance.

<i>Quartet</i> (Pat Metheny album) 1996 studio album by Pat Metheny Group

Quartet (1996) is the eighth studio album by the Pat Metheny Group. The album features Pat Metheny on guitar, Lyle Mays on keyboards, Steve Rodby on bass, and Paul Wertico on drums. The approach for the album was to not write lengthy compositions before recording but instead use merely sketches and rely mostly on improvisation in a setting with just acoustic instruments. A departure from the usual thoroughly orchestrated sound using synthesizers and sequencing the Group is usually known for. The result is experimental, moody, and loose, even dark in some moments. The instrumentation relies mostly on acoustic instruments including various keyboard instruments such as the spinet piano, Harmonium, Fender Rhodes, autoharp and various guitars including the 42-string Pikasso guitar. The Roland GR-303 makes appearances on "Oceania" and "Language of Time".

References

  1. Ginell, Richard S. (2011). "First Circle - Pat Metheny Group | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
  2. Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 994. ISBN   978-0-141-03401-0.
  3. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 139. ISBN   0-394-72643-X.
  4. Pat Metheny Songbook ( ISBN   0-634-00796-3) page 441