Personnel includes: Pat Metheny (acoustic & electric guitars, synthesizer); Cuong Vu (vocals, trumpet); Richard Bona (vocals, acoustic guitar, fretless bass, percussion); Dave Samuels (marimba, percussion); Lyle Mays (piano, keyboards); Steve Rodby (cello, acoustic bass); Antonio Sanchez (drums).
Producers include: Pat Metheny, Steve Rodby, Lyle Mays.
Recorded at Right Track Studio, New York, New York in 2001.
SPEAKING OF NOW won the 2003 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album.
"As It Is" was nominated for the 2003 Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance. "Proof" (Pat Metheny) was nominated for the 2003 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Solo.
Composers: Lyle Mays ; Pat Metheny.
Personnel: Pat Metheny (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, guitar synthesizer); Richard Bona (vocals, acoustic guitar, fretless bass, percussion); Cuong Vu (vocals, trumpet); Steve Rodby (cello, acoustic bass); Lyle Mays (piano, keyboards); David Samuels (marimba, percussion); Antonio Sanchez (drums).
Audio Mixer: Rob Eaton.
Photographer: Latifa.
Arrangers: Lyle Mays ; Pat Metheny.
Guitarist/composer extraordinaire Pat Metheny has never been one to stand still for long, and on SPEAKING OF NOW, his mercurial muse finds working with a new band and exploring new sounds. Though Metheny's trademark guitar style remains in the same general vein as on previous releases, it's surrounded by a different sonic framework. Young Vietnamese trumpeter Cuong Vu took time out from making a name for himself on his own sui generis jazz releases to lay down some tasteful, Miles-inspired trumpet, while Richard Bona's percussion and vocals add a South American feel (Metheny's flirted with Brazilian influences before, but not in this context. Despite the new developments, Metheny's longtime right-hand man Lyle Mays mans the keyboards to produce the kind of twinkling piano tones and contemplative, gauzy synth textures that are time-tested to mesh pefectly with the leader's distinctive guitar sound.
Professional Reviews
Q (3/02, p.125) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...Metheny and Mays sound equally inspired, and never resort to gratuitous virtuosity."
