The first Quickies of 2008 is all that jazz. More precisely, it's all jazz. Or variants of jazz. That is, if you don't count the last entry, which is soul-funk. Got it? Good, let's get started...

Pat Metheny Trio Day Trip

Today is supposed to be the day of Metheny's first release under the guitar/acoustic bass/drums format since Trio Live from 2000. But this time, the Trio's rhythm section is overhauled: Larry Granadier and Bill Stewart have been replaced by Christian McBride and Pat Metheny Group drummer Antonio Sanchéz.

The music hasn't changed at all, though. It's still the same kind of trio record you already know from Question And Answer and 99>00 with Pat revealing his Jim Hall and Kenny Burrell influences more than at other times, and leaving the sound plenty wide open enough to allow him and his cohorts to stretch out. If you remember "The Red One" from the Metheny/Scofield collaboration I Can See Your House From Here and hear the same song as played by the Trio, you'll get a good idea of how this format can turn songs inside out.

Day Trip isn't blow-you-away good, but I don't think Metheny is aiming to make any grand statements here, either. It's just good, clean fun for three top-drawer players. And who wouldn't want to see this crew play live?

Eivind Aarset Sonic Codex
Heavy metal is not one of those kinds of music I can typically dig on its own but throw in some sort of jazz element into the mix and I'm there. That's why headbangers and I can come together at Caspar Brötzmann. The same goes for electronica. And when it comes to blending electronics and jazz, the Scandinavians seem to be the dominant players in this sub-genre. There's even a term for this hybrid: nu jazz.

So, you know beforehand what you're going to get from this blue-eyed, blonde guitarist from Oslo. Ambient sounds, programmed African rhythms, hints of melodic pop lines alternating with white noise. But most vitally, somewhere in the mix, actual instruments are being played. It sounds like a cross between Nils Petter Molvaer (with whom Aarset has worked with) and instrumental Porcupine Tree with some atmospherics thrown in here and there. Aarset is a fine guitarist but he doesn't hot dog it on his axe; he's more into creating textures, moods and grooves. Some might be tempted to call Sonic Codex an On The Corner updated for the 21st century. Nah, it's too listenable to describe it quite that way, but the debt is clearly owed.

Neil Larsen Orbit
Neil Larsen isn't a household name, but he's been around greatness a lot for someone who isn't widely known outside of musician circles. That's because when greatness has needed a session kayboard player, they often reach out to him: George Harrison, Dan Fogelberg, Rickie Lee Jones and Kenny Loggins are just a handful of big names who've hired him out at one time or another. Maybe staying gainfully employed as a keyboard-for-hire so consistently is why Larsen hadn't felt a need to put out his own records that often.