This is an interesting pairing - two brilliant musicians that are a generation apart - yet whose styles seems to mesh well together. They are touring together - just a few gigs in some big symphony halls (too big a room - and pretty expensive) check out metheny's FREE podcast on itunes - has an episode dedicated to the mehldau record with interviews. melhdau says at one point "bill evans - never really listened to him - not really a fan - what's all the fuss?..." Whereas Pat has always been a huge evans fan - and this record has been compared to Jim Hall/Bill Evans Undercurrents - the pairing of gtr and pno is rare but interesting if you have two guys with this much talent.
Meldau/Metheny: Thoughts?
I've been a Metheny fan for years. I've listened to several Meldau CDs but, although it was obvious that he is an accomplished pianist and composer, for some inexplicable reason I found it difficult to connect to his music. So I hesitated to purchase this CD. Well, IMO, it is a fantastic listen. With each musician complimenting the other it sounds like they have been playing together for many years. I would have to enthusiastically nominate this CD as one of the best jazz releases of 2006.