Pat Metheny & Lyle Mays - As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls (1980)

Front Cover	Album Info
	Artist/Composer Pat Metheny & Lyle Mays Title As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls Length 43:34 Discs: 1 Tracks: 5 Format CD Packaging Jewel Case Label ECM Cat. Number 821416-2 Style Fusion; General Jazz Rating Recorded wrzesień 1980  at  Talent Studios, Oslo

Musicians	Credits
Pat Metheny el.guitar Lyle Mays piano Nana Vasconcelos drums, percussion	Producer Manfred Eicher Engineer Jan Erik Kongshaug

Track list

01 As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls 20:45 02 Ozark 04:03 03 September Fifteenth 07:45 04 It's For You 08:20 05 Estupenda Graca 02:41

Notes

_AMG Review (4): The regrettable title aside, this joint solo effort by Metheny and regular pianist and collaborator Lyle Mays is an impressive outing. In the process of stretching out away from the confines of the quartet setting of prior albums, Metheny and Mays presage the sleeker and more ethereal sound of the band's Geffen years on portions of the title track. And while this side-long number has some dreamy moments, it also bogs down in a trite climax or two; one gets the sense of a jazz fusion and prog rock marriage Metheny luckily never fully explored. Minor flaws, really, since the piece holds together in spite of the worrisome lapses of taste. The balance of the album is just fine, with the highlight being the Bill Evans remembrance, "September Fifteenth" (the date of Evan's passing, which occurred while the album was being recorded). Metheny and Mays appropriately opt for a serene and slightly elegiac piano and acoustic guitar duet. The set is balanced out by the fleet Americana of "Ozark" and the streamlined swinger "It's for You." Topped off by integral and tasteful percussion by future band regular Nana Vasconcelos, this 1981 Metheny date is certainly a worthwhile disc for fans to seek out, while not being essential. — Stephen Cook