Pat Metheny - Sassy Samba

[Jazzooo]

Egads.

I am a great admirer of Metheny, but this is a CD of leftover live tracks from 1982 that shouldn't have ever been released.

Well, almost. Metheny does a nice solo excursion where he weaves in an old tune or two, but from then on it's him playing live with The Heath Brothers on a few cuts--mostly just thrown-together tunes. Metheny gets in some nice licks on guitar and guitar synth, but the rhythm section just is nowhere in the neighborhood of "happening," even on a little old blues.

Worst of all is that I bought this CD from Amazon.com as a Metheny CD. Because it was less expensive and not on a major label, I suspected it would be spotty...but as it turns out, two of the cuts feature the Dave Brubeck Band...and there's no Metheny at all on them! How bizarre for an album with metheny's name and face on the cover.

Skip this one.

[Gentle Giant]

Fuck skipping it; you should return it and complain. Sounds like it might not even be a legitimate release. Something like this happened to me once after I bought a CD from a record store. I took it home and realized by the shitty sound that it had to be pirated or a bootleg or something foul. I brought it back and demanded my money back. They said if it was defective, they'd replace it but that store policy doesn't allow them to refund the money. Raising my voice, I said, "I don't want another copy of this. It's a bootleg. It's illegal to sell it, so give me back my money or someone's going to find out you sell pirated music!"

Got my money back.

[Tanager]

I think it's a legit release, according to AMG.

[gonzo]

i bought the same CD many years ago believing it was a pat CD.
i was never really a big heath bros. fan outside of the MJQ so it was disappointing.

[Other Steve]

The music is legit and has been around in circulation on bargain labels for years, properly packaged as a compilation (as in the version depicted on AMG).

Still, GG's right: the version on Amazon appears to be a Pat Metheny release and there's nothing to indicate otherwise. Therefore, if the Metheny tracks on it aren't worth the $6.98 plus shipping that you paid, it's a rip-off. You should return it and complain (not that Amazon likely knew any better), and you might want to be a "Good Samaritan" and post a review of your findings on Amazon before anyone else gets suckered.

[Jazzooo]

Good ideas, all--I'll send it back to Amazon and post a review.