THE WAY UP

THE WAY UP may be the greatest masterpiece of prog ever written and performed by a prominent jazz musician (and his band). Indeed, it's precisely because of the unmistakable symphonic prog flavour of this album that Metheny got criticised in the authoritative PENGUIN GUIDE TO JAZZ RECORDINGS.

Solemn, majestic orchestral passages (performed on electronic keyboards), ecstatic and meditative solos on at least ten different types of guitar (both acoustic and electric), joyful sound effects, dreamy trumpet solos, sudden time changes, romantic grand piano, quirky synthesizer sounds, lots of fiddly bits: not since the 1970s has any musician come up with a prog symphony as ambitious as this. And we're definitely talking about a 'symphony' here: Metheny and his keyboardist Lyle Mays have written one continuous 68-minute piece of music, divided into four movements.

What does it all mean? There are few hummable melodies, and even Pat's ecstatic solos sound somewhat less exuberant, less spontaneous than the legendary one on 'Are you going with me', one of his best (and earliest) exercises in the genre. But the sheer vigour and the natural pulse of the album (which is inspired by Steve Reich's compositions) carries the listener away. If I had an i-pod, this is the first album I'd put on it, 'cause I can imagine no music better for jogging, or for a one-hour cycle ride. Pardon the cliche, but THE WAY UP makes you feel as if the whole world is a glorious Technicolor movie!

Will fans of this website like this album? If those fans prefer their jazz to be truly spontaneous, rough and avant-garde, perhaps not. But if they are into albums such as OMMADAWN, WAVES (by Jade Warrior) or LARK'S TONGUES IN ASPIC, they probably will. Admittedly, THE WAY UP isn't rock. But it's truer to the classic prog spirit than any other recent album I can think of.

P.S. Although Metheny has recorded other proggy albums in the past 15 years or so (and quite a few 'proper' jazz albums as well), his 'symphonic' style was already in evidence in 1977, when he recorded the dreamy and melancholic 'Sea Song' (no relation to Robert Wyatt's superb piece with that title) on WATERCOLORS, with more than a little help from star bass player Eberhard Weber.