Pat Metheny: Unity Band (2012)

Pat Metheny's Unity Band is a wave to his fine album 80/81, which featured the late Michael Brecker and Dewey Redman on saxes. Their roles are merged here on a batch of new Metheny pieces by the versatile Chris Potter, accompanied by regular drummer Antonio Sanchez and gifted bass newcomer Ben Williams. The themes are typical Metheny: sensuous Latin grooves, synth-guitar fusion, folksy ballads, a good deal of jazz swing – and the rhythm section is mindboggling, not to mention beautifully recorded. Roofdogs evokes the long-running Pat Metheny Group with its horn-like guitar synth, Come and See imaginatively mingles the multi-stringed Picasso guitar and Potter's bass clarinet. Meanwhile, jamming with Williams and Sanchez on Leaving Town, Metheny's blues/funk phrasing is as fresh as any of his recorded improvisations in recent times. The torchy Then and Now showcases Potter's resonant tenor tone and upper-register ease, and Breakdealer offers a short-burst theme for everybody to solo on. It's all about the playing skills of a dazzling band, which live shows will undoubtedly ram home even harder.

Tracklist:
1 New Year 7:37
2 Roofdogs 5:33
3 Come and See 8:28
4 This Belongs to You 5:20
5 Leaving Town 6:24
6 Interval Waltz 6:26
7 Signals (Orchestrion Sketch) 11:26
8 Then and Now 5:57
9 Breakdealer 8:34
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Richard Bona: Reverence (2001)

Richard Bona was born in a little village in West Africa. His mother was a singer and his grandfather was both a singer and musician. Those talents were passed down naturally. By the time Bona was of school age, he spent plenty of hours performing at church. At home, his hunger for the world of music found him making his own flutes, drums, and even a decent guitar. As a teenager he moved to a large city where he soon found a way to get his fill of jazz and the chance to play real instruments and learn to read and write music. On this 2001 album, Reverence, his second full-length recording, all of those years of surrounding himself with music shine through. Even though the lyrics aren't in English, fans from the United States seem to enjoy the album. Bona's songs on Reverence are jazz, but done in a world style, with the flavor of his homeland proudly holding a large spot. The numbers on this recording carry styles of fusion and American jazz, but also offer African pop, Latin, jazz-rock, and even some orchestral arrangements. ~ Charlotte Dillon

Personnel: Richard Bona (vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar, flute, keyboards, fretless bass, percussion); Pat Metheny (guitar, acoustic guitar); Oz Noy (guitar, wah-wah guitar); Grace Paradise (harp); Louise Schulman (violin, viola); Shmuel Katz (violin); David Cerutti (viola); Maxine Neuman, Richard Locker (cello); Alan Cox (flute); Sheryl Henze (bass flute); John Moses (bass clarinet); Aaron Heick (soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone); Michael Brecker (tenor saxophone); Etienne Stadwijk (piano, Fender Rhodes piano, keyboards); George Whitty (piano, keyboards); Edsel Gomez (piano); Vinnie Colaiuta (drums); Luis Quintero (percussion).

Down Beat (11/01, p.57) - 3.5 stars out of 5 - "...An intimate and nuanced affair...suggesting sunny, white beaches and blue-green waters..."

Tracklist:1 Invocation (A Prophecy)
2 Bisso Baba (Always Together)   
3 Suninga (When Will I Ever See You?)    
4 Ekwa Mwato (Affirmation of the Spirit)
5 Sweet Mary (Everyone Has a Choice)
6 Reverence (The Story of a Miracle)
7 Te Misea (A Scream to Save the Planet)   
8 Muntula Moto (The Benediction of a Long Life)   
9 Laka Mba (Plea for Forgiveness With the Pride of Lions)
10 Ngad'a Ndutu (Widow's Dance/Celebration of a New Life)
11 Esoka (Trust Your Heart) 
12 Mbanga Kumba (Two Cities, One Train)
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