''Unity Band'' is a studio album by American jazz guitarist
Pat Metheny
Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer.
He is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works, and other side projects. His style incorporates elements of progre ...
along with saxophonist
Chris Potter, bassist
Ben Williams and drummer
Antonio Sánchez. This is the first Metheny album featuring a tenor saxophonist in 32 years (since 1980's
80/81
''80/81'' is a double album by jazz guitarist Pat Metheny, featuring tenor saxophonists Dewey Redman and Michael Brecker, acoustic bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Jack DeJohnette, which was released in 1980.
Metheny toured in the U.S. in fall 19 ...
with the late
Michael Brecker
Michael Leonard Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13, 2007) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Berklee College of M ...
). The album was released through
Nonesuch Records
Nonesuch Records is an American record company and label owned by Warner Music Group, distributed by Warner Records (formerly called Warner Bros. Records), and based in New York City. Founded by Jac Holzman in 1964 as a budget classical label, Non ...
on June 12, 2012 and received the
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
for
Best Jazz Instrumental Album
The Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album is an award that was first presented in 1959.
History
From 1959 to 2011, the Award was called Best Instrumental Jazz Album, Individual or Group. In 2012, it was shortened to Best Jazz Instrumental ...
during the
2013 Grammy Awards
The 55th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 10, 2013, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2011 through September 30, 2012. The show was broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. E ...
, marking Metheny's 20th Grammy win.
Track listing
Personnel
*
Pat Metheny
Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer.
He is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works, and other side projects. His style incorporates elements of progre ...
– electric and acoustic guitars,
guitar synthesizer
A guitar synthesizer is any one of a number of musical instrument systems that allow a guitarist to access synthesizer capabilities.
Overview
Today's guitar synths are direct descendants of 1970s devices from manufacturers (often in partner ...
, orchestrionics
*
Chris Potter –
tenor
A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...
and
soprano saxophone
The soprano saxophone is a higher-register variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument invented in the 1840s. The soprano is the third-smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists (from smallest to largest) of the soprillo, sop ...
,
bass clarinet
The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays notes an octave bel ...
*
Ben Williams – double bass
*
Antonio Sánchez – drums
Charts
Awards
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
s
References
{{Authority control
Pat Metheny albums
2012 albums
Nonesuch Records albums
Instrumental albums
Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album