Pat Metheny Travels

Over the course of 40 years as a recording artist, guitarist Pat Metheny has released album after album, each one brilliantly documenting another aspect of his unique and nearly uncategorizable musical journey. Exhibiting an insatiable creative energy, Metheny has participated in just about every avenue of modern music making that the early 21st century might offer a musician. 

Seemingly bent on blurring and obliterating stylistic boundaries at every opportunity, he has created an expansively impressive body of work that includes a series of highly influential trio recordings, award winning solo albums, scores for hit Hollywood motion pictures, duets with major artists such as Charlie Haden and Jim Hall, and collaborations with other significant figures in modern music like Ornette Coleman, Steve Reich, Brad Mehldau and many others.

But for legions of his fans worldwide, there is no setting that defines Metheny the musician more than his role as bandleader of one of the most acclaimed and influential musical ensembles of the past quarter century, the Pat Metheny Group. As the only group in history to win seven consecutive Grammy awards for seven consecutive releases, the Pat Metheny Group has occupied a nearly undefinable musical territory that is accessible to listeners of all kinds while never compromising a unique compositional and improvisational integrity that is unparalleled among contemporary and mainstream jazz groups.

1983's Travels is the Pat Metheny Group's first live album recorded during several 1982 concerts and it finds Metheny in top form in a quintet configuration with longtime cohorts Lyle Mays (piano/organ/synthesizers), Dan Gottlieb (drums) and Steve Rodby (bass) plus special guest Nana Vasconcelos (vocals/percussion). Half of the album is comprised of previously unheard new compositions that haven't been featured on a studio album since. Travels was awarded a 1983 Grammy for Best Jazz Fusion Performance in 1983.

Pat Metheny, guitars

Lyle Mays, piano, synthesizers, organ, autoharp, synclavier

Steve Rodby, basses

Dan Gottlieb. drums

Nana Vasconcelos, percussion, voice, berimbau

LP1

1.  Are You Going with Me?

2.  The Fields, the Sky

3.  Goodbye

4.  Phase Dance

5.  Straight on Red

6.  Farmer’s Trust

LP2

1.  Extradition

2.  Goin’ Ahead / As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls

3.  Travels

4.  Song for Bilbao

5.  San Lorenzo