Pat Metheny is the figure head of a new romanticism in jazz. A magician of sounds, he expanded the guitar's spectrum of expression in a way that was unimaginable before his appearance in the seventies. He opened new dimensions in sound and feeling to fusion jazz. "It seems as if we use electronics to make it sound more natural", Pat himself said. Starting as a sideman with Gary Burton, Pat's sound soon established a new esthetics in jazz all over the world. But the master of a whole generation of young guitar players did not stand still. Pat's playing today reveals more facets than ever. On Till We Have Faces he disposes of a wide variety of stimulating sound colours contrasting with Gary's strong voice. Up to now Pat has never showed a rhythmic approach as straight as on this album. The open-minded listener will definitely discover a new Metheny.

On the one hand: Gary Thomas, the angry young saxophone player from the Black avant-garde scene. On the other hand: special guest Pat Metheny, the white romantic of the guitar. The two of them treat for six standard songs and two modern ballads. But Till We Have Faces is not a sentimental ballad album at all. The tempos chosen would fit any bebopper's concept and the solos come straight to the point, combining the virtues of the jazz tradition with the sounds and gestures of the nineties. Gary's bubbling tenor approaches melodies like Angel Eyes and Bye Bye Baby in a quite offensive way, shattering habitual clichés. Especially in the duet passages with the drummer and in the trio piece It's You Or No One, he really gets his teeth into the standard stuff. When taking up flute or soprano, his approach is a more reserved and less bodily one. Without the grumbling tone of his tenor, even Gary's wildest phrases get a softer touch.

Pat Metheny has realized his own conceptions of the standard songs. His playing varies from huge rock intensity to jazzy filigrees, from earthy blues lines to airy legatos. In Lush Life, Strayhorn's exquisite master work, Pat can be heard in an unusual role: as accompanist on the acoustic guitar. His soaring, wide-spaced accompaniment and Gary's free and soulful reading of the tune compete here admirably. What is astonishing above all, the old songs sound as if they had long waited for treatments like these. The creative contrasts between Gary and Pat succeed in an artistic way mainly because of the sidemen's flexible playing. The band as a whole manages to step back in the right moment, opening up wide harmonic spaces and reacting delicately. Special mention must be made of Terri Lyne Carrington, a melodically thinking drummer with a matchless sensibility. It is she who gives this music its vital breath.

- Original Press Text written in 1992