I feel badly, as I encouraged Bill to nominate some jazz, but I guess this isn’t really what I had in mind. I was thinking darker, more bluesy, with sprightlier brass and less guitar up front (though I mean it’s Pat Metheny, what should I have expected, right?) Songform and structure has place in jazz like it does a lot of music, but here I feel like themes are lost in a sea of aimless noodling, as good as the noodling can be (dig the piano in the opener, or the harmonica on The Past In Us for example, or the guitar on Everything Explained). This takes sound-not-songs to a whole new level. That there are putative lyrics on From This Place come as almost a jarring shock. There were certainly parts I enjoyed — I agree with those who thought sections of America Undefined were a bit special — but as an addition to doing something else (mostly working). As sheer aural pleasure, I found this exceedingly difficult to concentrate on. Maybe it’s just because my brain expects to return to a chord or a chorus I enjoy but with this music we basically never do. It’s always going somewhere different and new and unexpected, which is great in concept, but the problem is it’s also fucking exhausting, which isn’t the effect I assume jazz artists are going for. Maybe this music just tries to use that 90% of the brain humans never use so I am out of practice. Anyhow, I can’t claim I can’t rate this unlike opera, but I have to go 3/10 because I had no visceral connection here on any level, but can appreciate talented musicians, even when not playing hooks. Maybe I’m not limber enough to appreciate this on the whole, though I’m glad I tried — stretching is always good. Also as I said before — megaprops for the album cover; I wish the music had lived up.
