Pat Metheny Group

PAT METHENY GROUP

(ECM)

In the late '70s, Pat Metheny acted as a gateway drug to many an aspiring jazz fan looking to make the leap from Spyro Gyra to Thelonious Monk. (I hate to admit it, but I was in their number.) To my ears, this self-titled album still stands as the guitarist/composer's best work. He and keyboardist Lyle Mays display real chemistry; the rhythm section of drummer Danny Gottlieb and bassist Mark Egan provide sturdy backing. Pat Metheny Group features six exceptionally pretty and well-arranged tunes — kind of a heartland jazz thing with elements of folk and rock.

This article appears in Oct 3-9, 2007.

Eric Snider is the dean of Bay area music critics. He started in the early 1980s as one of the founding members of Music magazine, a free bi-monthly. He was the pop music critic for the then-St. Petersburg...