Long Play on The Nightside

Listen to Long Plays during the 11 o’clock hour of The Nightside with Andy O’…these special extensive compositions needed a deeper listen.

“As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls” (20:42) Pat Metheny & Lyle Mays
We celebrate the forty-year anniversary of this epic masterwork by Metheny and his longtime musical cohort Lyle Mays (the only album credited to the duo) they are joined by Brazilian percussionist/singer Nana Vasconcelos to complete the lineup. Why is this recording so significant? The most impressionistic entry in the musicians’ combined and respective discographies, the album illuminates different and fascinating facets of their artistic personalities. Of course, venturing into surprising new territory was par for the course for Metheny. As Falls Wichita was his seventh album. It came right after 80/81, an outing with jazz royalty Charlie Haden, Jack DeJohnette, Dewey Redman, and Michael Brecker, and right before Offramp, a Pat Metheny Group recording on which Metheny first made use of a guitar synthesizer. Still, nothing Metheny had done previously hinted at this sprawling masterpiece.

“Circle in the Round” (26:15) Miles Davis
From a two-disc compilation of various Miles hidden gems finally unearthed. The best song on the first disc, and somewhat progressive sounding, due to its chromatic theme and 12/8 time signature is the title track, “Circle in the Round”. It’s a 26-minute tour de force that sounds far ahead of its 1967 recording date.

Miles and Wayne Shorter wind exquisite solos around the stellar rhythm section of Ron Carter, Tony Williams, Herbie Hancock, and Joe Beck’s intricate hypnotic rhythms. Even at 26 minutes the piece never bogs down.

Musical surprises abound from these impressive musical impressions.

Long Play is a deep dive during the last hour of The Nightside into the music that time forgot.

Tune in to The Nightside with Andy O’ on Sunday night, September 26, from 8 to midnight.

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