Album: Pat Metheny

Day Trip, Nonesuch

All flounce and little pith, Pat Metheny is the Laurence Llewelyn Bowen of jazz guitar, a tricksy cavalier when maybe what you want is a straight-to-the-nub roundhead like Marc Ribot. But, hey, 'Day Trip' has quite a bit going for it: hotshot double-bassist Christian McBride and the great, Roy Haynes-like drummer Antonio Sanchez add terrific energy to M's ruffly tunes (all originals, but often recalling generic jazz themes), while the guitar style takes a mid-point between Wes Montgomery and Jim Hall. But M's flangey tone isn't retro enough to sound interesting and the 10 tunes get worse as the album goes on.

Download this: 'At Last You're Here' is a beautiful new age ballad