Description
The first thing to know about this album is that it’s classical guitar and, apart from strumming on two tracks, Pat Metheny plays on only the final track – and that’s not even his own composition but Arvo Pärt’s Für Alina.
But keep an open mind and open ears, because on this album you’ll hear some of the world’s finest classical guitarists playing new Metheny compositions of great beauty and virtuosity.
First off is Four Paths of Light, a four-part suite for solo guitar. It’s a credit to Metheny’s versatility that it’s often hard to recognise him as the composer, some passages played in strict tempo suggestive of classical etudes, and Part 4 a piece in 3/4 time with a strong flamenco flavour; but inevitably Metheny’s distinctive lyricism and personality shine through, particularly in Part 2. If anyone’s going to play this suite, Jason Vieaux is the perfect choice. He gained international attention in 1992 aged only nineteen by becoming the youngest ever winner of the prestigious Guitar Foundation of America’s International Guitar Competition; Metheny’s also found the perfect performers for Road to the Sun, a six-part suite for four guitars that follows Paths of Light. The Los Angeles Guitar Quartet comprises John Dearman, William Kanengiser, Scott Tennant and Matthew Greif who, like Vieaux, perform across many genres, from Bach to bluegrass to rock.
