Description
About the Author
Mervyn Cooke is Professor of Music at the University of Nottingham, United Kingdom, where he teaches courses in twentieth-century music, jazz, film music and composition. An alumnus of the Royal Academy of Music and King's College Cambridge, he is the author and editor of numerous and widely translated books on jazz, film music and the life and works of Benjamin Britten.
Reviews
Metheny's contributions to jazz, as highlighted by Cooke, are his ambitious narrative trajectories that developed into complex forms, novel harmonic progressions (or other methods of organizing harmonic material), and use of state-of-the-art equipment and techniques. Pat Metheny: The ECM Years, 1975-1984, is a thoughtful and enjoyable study of Metheny's music and his importance to jazz. * James Mason, Notes *
This book offers a richly textured view of Methenys early recordings. Named as a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master in 2018, he has attained something of the status of an elder statesman of jazz. As with, for example, Herbie Hancocks recordings during this time, Methenys ECM output ranged between pop-influenced music and more straight-ahead jazz contexts, with all of it reflecting a high degree of improvisational prowess and integrity. Giving the recordings the serious scholarly attention they deserve, Cooke presents the story lucidly, with a balance of technical and general information likely to appeal to a wide readership. * Keith Waters, Music and Letters *
I've now read Cooke's account twice, always with the music to hand, and it's revelatory. Jazz studies of this quality are still rare, but quite a few of them are in the same Oxford series, which ought to be on every collectors' shelf. * Brian Morton, Jazz Journal *
The fact that Cooke only illuminates Pat Metheny's ECM years and thus captures only a quarter of the work that has since been released (44 albums) is by no means a disadvantage. Often he looks beyond the horizon, to the years 1985 and following; and draws connecting lines from there to the investigation period ... The result is a massive accumulation of original compositions to which he can relate to without even the slightest hint of stylistic disagreement. * JazzCity *
The meat of the book [...] is found in Cooke's scrupulously detailed musical analysis. Illustrating his descriptions with copious music examples, he surveys Metheny's decade at ECM album by album, concentrating on the leader himself. * Chris Parker, London Jazz News *
Book Information
ISBN 9780199897667
Author Mervyn Cooke
Format Paperback
Page Count 328
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 376g
Dimensions(mm) 215mm * 149mm * 20mm