Kin

about this album

Since 2005's The Way Up, the final Pat Metheny Group album, the composer and guitarist has been roaming creatively. Recordings include two Metheny/Brad Mehldau collaborations: the hard-swinging Day Trip with bassist Christian McBride and drummer Antonio Sanchez, and the jazz/modern classical hybrid album Orchestrion, his one-man symphony invention and the first offering by the Unity Band -- with guitarist Sanchez, saxophonist Chris Potter, and bassist Ben Williams, and finally, 2013's great surprise: Tap: John Zorn's Book of Angels, Vol. 20. Despite the innovation, many PMG fans have nostalgically longed for the return of more accessible material. Kin (), the Unity Band's sophomore outing, should please fans of all Metheny stripes. The band is now a quintet with multi-instrumentalist Giulio Carmassi. He plays piano, strings, brass, winds, vibes, voice, and more. While the frontline remains the guitarist and Potter, the rhythm section of Williams and Sanchez is fluid in earthy and ethereal modes, seamlessly providing grooves and force, often simultaneously. Carmassi's contributions balance melody, form, texture, and interactive dynamics. Metheny's ability to convey an almost hummable sense of melodic euphoria was at the heart of the PMG's sound. It is ever present here, but his compositions make more room for spontaneous interplay, even in tunes that showcase the more complex elements of his writing. Opener "On Day One" offers a tough, polyrhythmic, rubato Latin groove, with

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