Secret Story
Pat Metheny's most ambitious solo project is also his most emotionally rich work as composer. A conceptual song cycle inspired by a tumultuous relationship frames the CD's alternately intense and introspective motifs with sweeping orchestrations and a shifting array of global musics spanning Asia, Europe, and the Americas. With a vast cast (including numerous Metheny Group members past and present), and Metheny himself marshalling percussion, horns, and keyboards as well as guitar and guitar synthesizer,Secret Storyis by turns lush, heroic, heartbroken, at once epic and intimate.--Sam Sutherland