Zero Tolerance For Silence

Thanks to an assignment, I’ve had my head dug into Cuong Vu’s new album, Vu-Tet, all week. The Seattle-based trumpeter plays on the last two Pat Metheny Group records. So, perhaps that’s why I’m so receptive to Day Trip, Metheny’s new trio record with Christian McBride and Antonio Sanchez. Or perhaps, like his debut Bright Size Life, it’s just really good.

NYT’s Nate Chinen thinks so.

And so does Washington Post’s Mike Joyce.

Metheny’s brand of lyricism often gets him tagged as easy listening. But, thanks in no small part to the rhythm section (half of which played with Sonny Rollins at his recent Carnegie Hall concert), there’s a weight and substance to the playing on Day Trip that you can feel as much as hear.

The trio is winding its way across the country as I type. It’ll be at the State Theater in Falls Church on March 14th.